


The Hidden Time Lady

by The_Winter_Sxldier



Series: THTL: The Hidden Time Lady. [1]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Aliens, Other, TARDIS - Freeform, doctor who - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2020-09-26 23:14:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 83,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20397736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Winter_Sxldier/pseuds/The_Winter_Sxldier
Summary: {This will be in the third person for the most part except for this chapter}





	1. Cast

Katherine McNamara as Nova Tyler Second Regeneration

Christopher Eccleston as The 9th Doctor

Billie Piper as Rose Tyler

Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler

Noel Clarke as Mickey Smith 


	2. The Crash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {This will be in the third person for the most part except for this chapter}

I grabbed the TARDIS key and was making a run for the ships with mum right behind me hoping to make it and get away from this war zone that used to be my home a few feet from the one I had the key for I see a Dalek come at from the side then I hear I hear my mum scream "Nova no...not my baby you leave my baby girl, alone" the Dalek turns to her and shoots her twice as she screams. 

I have tears streaming down my face "NO! Mum!" as it turns back to me and shoots me once in the back while I try and make it to the TARDIS. It shot me in one of my hearts. I fall to the groud tears falling down my face still as I play completely dead and once I knew it wasn't paying attention to me anymore I grit my teeth feeling the regeneration coming on I crawl pulling myself into the TARDIS tears still streaming down my face trying to hold back the regeneration until I get to the control panel and I plot a random course and I pull the lever and I am off.

Then I let the regeneration start there is a bright golden light as I scream out in painfully letting the regeneration happen once the regeneration is finished I can the TARDIS spinning out of control so I locker her onto the nearest planet for a crash landing knowing that I won't be able to regain control like this.

Once she finally hits the ground I open the door to see where I've landed only to see I am on earth I step back in.

I go digging through somethings looking for a Fob watch knowing the only way I will fit in here is to become human take my Time Lord consciousness and put it into a Fob watch and as long as I don't open the watch I won't know who I am or where I came from.

Once I find what I'm looking for I put my TARDIS key around my neck and I pull down the Chameleon Arch and I set it to human I put the helmet on and pull the switch then I am enveloped in a bright golden light much like the light when we regenerate and pain the most intense pain that I have ever felt in my entire life then it just stops.

I look around confused before stumbling over to the door of the weird-looking building I was in clutching a pocket watch in my hand. I reach up and feel tears on my face.... why am I crying?

After just walking around not really knowing where I was going I get stopped by a really pretty blonde woman "Hi sweetheart, are you lost?" I nod my head at her "What's your name?" "Nova I think" the lady smiles at me "Well Nova my name is Jackie Tyler, Where did you come from? Where are your parents? and why does it look like you've been crying?"

I look at her for a minute "I don't know... I don't remember I know my name is Nova and that I'm 14 but everything else is blank" Jackie looks at me then lets out a sigh "okay sweetheart how about you come home with me for tonight and in the morning we can try and find you're parents I'm sure they are worried sick about you?"

I think about her offer for a minute "Okay and thank you for being so kind to me" she smiles "I have a daughter that is a year younger than you her name is Rose I think the two of you will get along" she holds her hand out to me to take I offer her my hand holding the pocket watch she looks at it "What is this?" "I don't know I was holding I don't know where it came from but maybe it's a piece of my life that I don't remember" Jackie gives me a kind smile "Well then we will keep that safe" then she stuck it into the pocket of the jacket that I am wearing and takes my hand leading me to her house.

Once we get inside another blonde girl comes in "Mum what took so long?" that must be Jackie's daughter "Rose, this is Nova I found her in the park she's lost we are going to try and find her parents tomorrow"

She stands in front of me with a smile "Hi I'm Rose and I'm 13, how old are you?" I smile back at her "I'm Nova and I'm 14" "I think we are going to be the best of friends" I smile at her "I hope so" then she looks at Jackie "Mum if we can't find her family can she stay with us?" Jackie smiles "I don't see why not but only if we can't find her parents" Rose smiles and drags me through the place and into what I am guessing is her room.

**Third Person  
**  
They never did find out about Nova's family which is not a surprise so Jackie adopted the girl and she became Nova Tyler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting Next chapter we go into Season 1 Episode 1 'Rose' I just wanted to introduce Nova to you guys and give a little more insight on how she ended up on earth and everything.


	3. Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is 'Rose' hope you guys enjoy and also a little reminder this will be in the third person unless stated otherwise.

An alarm goes off at 7:30 and a young blonde gets up and gets dressed before walking into one of the other bedrooms "Come on Novs get up or we're going to be late" The red-haired girl gets up "Jeez Rose I'm up" "Now get dressed and I'll meet you in the kitchen"

The blonde Rose walks out of the room and into the kitchen where she kisses her mother on the head before the redhead walks out of her room Rose looks at her mother "Bye!" the redhead smiles at the woman "Bye Jacks" "See you girls later"

Rose and Nova take the bus to Central London and get off outside Henricks department store. There is a banner across the main entrance - Henrick's sale, sale Henrick's.

The day passes. Rose and Nova both moving piles of display clothes around the ladies wear section when needed and they, meet Rose's boyfriend Mickey for lunch in Trafalgar Square then go back to work. Eventually.

There is an announcement "This is a customer announcement. The store will be closing in five minutes. Thank you." Rose and Nova share a look before walking towards the door only to be stopped by a security guard holding a clear plastic bag out to them. "Oi!" Nova takes the bag from the guard She and Rose run back to a lift and goes down to the basement.

Nova calls out "Wilson? Wilson, I've got the lottery money. Wilson, are you there?" the girls hear a sound and Rose calls out "we can't hang about 'cos they're closing the shop. Wilson! Oh, come on." they hear a clattering sound further down the corridor "Hello? Hello, Wilson, it's Rose and Nova. Hello? Wilson?" Nova gets this feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach "Rose I think we should just lay the money outside the door and leave"

Rose looks at her "We can't just leave it Novs we have to make sure Wilson gets it you know that" Rose opens the door to a storeroom and turns on the lights. There are boxes of clothes, and dressed dummies. Nova signs before following Rose into the room "Wilson? Wilson?"

As the two girls explore the room more the door slams behind her. Rose runs back but it won't open she glances back at Nova "You're kidding me." she shrugs in an I have no clue what's happening manner.

There is more noise behind Rose as she walks back to where Nova is standing " Is that someone mucking about? Who is it?" Nova looks at Rose nervously seeing one the shop dummies moving towards them "I don't think that's someone mucking about Rose" Rose gives her a look "Of course it's someone mucking about Novs. Yeah, you got us. Very funny."

Nova and Rose see a second and a third one fall into step behind the first "Right, I've got the joke. Who's idea was this? Is it Derek's? Is it? Derek, is this you?" "I don't think it's Derek" More shop dummies start moving as Rose and Nova keep backing away down the storage area. Finally, they have them up against the wall, and the lead dummy raises its arm. Then a hand grabs Rose and Nova by the wrist.

The man looks at the two of them "Run" The Doctor drags Rose and Nova through the basement as the Autons follow, and into a lift. The lead Auton puts its arm through the closing doors. After several tugs, the Doctor pulls it off, and the doors close.

Nova stands there sort of shell shocked in you will as Rose stares at the man "You pulled his arm off." "Yep." the man confirmed before tossing it to her "Plastic." Rose caught it "Very clever. Nice trick! Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what?" Nova finding her voice again "Rose I don't think they were students" 

"Why would they be students?" he asked Rose looks at him incredulously "I don't know." the man frowned and turned to the two girls "Well, you said it. Why students?" Rose looked at him for a moment before answering "'Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students". He thought it through for a few moments "That makes sense. Well done."

"Thanks," Rose tells him still confused. 

"But like you're friend said they're not students."

"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police."

"Who's Wilson?" the Doctor asked with slight curiosity "Chief electrician." Nova answered him "Wilson's dead."

The three are now stood behind the department store as Rose looks at the strange man "That's just not funny. That's sick!"

"Hold on." the man warned, "Mind your eyes". "I've had enough of this now." Rose states as she and Nova both cover their eyes.

The Doctor disables the lift mechanism with his sonic screwdriver.

"Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?" Nova looks at her friend "I think we should just go" but neither Rose nor the Doctor pays attention she sighs just listening

"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." he holds up a small bomb "So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." 

He shuts the door behind him, then opens it again. "I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?" "Rose." Nova raises her hand slightly "I'm Nova" "Nice to meet you, Rose and Nova. Run for your life!"

Rose and Nova make their way to the main road, nervous of the dummies in the shop window. They run across the road, nearly becoming a hood ornament for a black cab. The driver yells out "Watch it!"

Then KaBOOM! A huge fireball takes out the upper floor of Hendrik's. Rose runs straight past an out of date police telephone box parked just in the alley between two other stores. But Nova stops for a second seeming to recognize it but she can't recall where from so she moves on and joins Rose as they run back towards their flat.

At the Tyler flat, BBC News 24 keeps everyone informed at 20.45. "The whole of Central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire. Early reports indicate"

Jackie is sat on the telephone as Rose and Nova are both slumped on the settee.

"I know. It's on the telly. It's everywhere. She's lucky to be alive. Both of them. Honestly, it's aged them. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now you'd think I was their daughter. Oh, and here's himself." Nova rolls her eyes at Jackie's dramatics as Rose's boyfriend, Mickey comes in "I've been phoning your mobile. You could've been dead. It's on the news and everything. I can't believe that your shop went up!" "I'm all right, honestly, we're fine! Don't make a fuss." Rose tries to convince him "Well, what happened?" "I don't know!" Mickey looks at Nova who shrugs at him before he keeps on questioning Rose "What was it though? What caused it?"

"We weren't in the shop.we were outside. We didn't see anything." except for the strange man that blew the shop up and animated shop window dummies, Nova thinks but keeps her mouth shut.

Jackie walks in from the kitchen "It's Debbie on the end. She knows a man on the Mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview." "Oh that's brilliant! Give it here," Rose says sarcastically Rose takes the phone from Jackie and ends the call.

"Well, you've got to find some way of making money. Your job's kaput and I'm not bailing you out. Either of you" The telephone rings again. Jackie answers it. "Bev! They're alive. I've told them, sue for compensation. they were within seconds of death."

Mickey looks at his girlfriend "What're you drinking, tea? Nah, Nah, that's no good, that's no good. You're in shock. You need something stronger." "I'm all right." "Now, come on, you deserve a proper drink. We're going down the pub, you and me. My treat. How about it?" Rose glances at Nova who shakes her head "Go on and have some fun you two crazy kid but I am going to go crash" she gets up and goes to her room.

Rose looks at Mickey "Is there a match on?" "No, I'm just thinking about you, babe." "There's a match on, ain't there." "That's not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes.

ROSE: Go on, then. I'm fine, really. Go. Get rid of that."

Rose has brought the Auton's arm home. They kiss, then Mickey picks up the arm.

"Bye, bye."

"Bye"

Mickey pretends to be strangled by the arm, then leaves. "Fire then spread throughout the store. Fifteen fire crews are in attendance though it's thought there is very little chance of saving the infrastructure."

Whistling, Mickey throws the arm into a rubbish bin, while somewhere nearby a couple are having a blazing row.

Next morning, Rose's alarm goes off at 7:30 as usual.

Jackie calls out "There's no point in getting up, sweetheart. You've got no job to go to."

Nova and Rose are in the kitchen as Jackie as she suggests places they could find jobs at "There's Finches. You could try them. They've always got jobs." "Oh, great. The butchers." Rose says in a snappy voice 

"Well, it might do you good. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma both of you. Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek! I know she is Greek, but that's not the point. It was a valid claim."

Jackie walks out of the kitchen.

Something rattles at the door. Rose calls out "Mum, you're such a liar. I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays" "I did it weeks back!" "No, you thought about it"

The screws for the cat flap are on the floor. Then the flap moves. Nova opens it. It's the Doctor trying to look through. Nova gets up and Rose opens the door.

"What're you two doing here? "We live here." "Well, what do you do that for?"

Rose looks at him "Because we do. we're only at home because someone blew up our job."

"I must have got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you?" he reached out and rapped on Rose's head she winced in pain "No, bonehead." "Bye, then." He tries to leave but Rose stops him "You. Inside. Right now."

Rose pulls the Doctor into the flat. Jackie calls from her room "Who is it?"

Jackie is in her bedroom putting on her makeup.

Nova pops her head into the room for a moment "It's about last night Jacks. He's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes." Jackie looks at him "they deserve compensation. The Doctor is in the open doorway.

"Oh, we're talking millions." he agreed sarcastically Jackie finally looked up "I'm in my dressing gown." then she gave him a smirk "Yes, you are." the Doctor confirmed, "There's a strange man in my bedroom."

The Doctor looked around noticing that technically he was inside of her room because he was standing in the doorway "Yes, there is." "Well, anything could happen." He pauses for a moment finally getting what she was suggesting he quickly shook his head "No." he states before heading on down the all after Rose and Nova.

Nova is seated in the chair as the Doctor takes a seat on the couch "Don't mind the mess. Do you want coffee?" "Might as well, thanks. Just milk." Nova glances over at the Doctor "hey you take your coffee the same way I do weird huh" The Doctor shrugs it off not thinking anything of it "I'm sure lots of people take their coffee like that"

Rose calls from the kitchen "We should go to the police. Seriously. All three of us."

The Doctor looks at the copy of Heat on the coffee table. "That won't last, he's gay and she's an alien." Nova lets out a little chuckle at that

"I'm not blaming you, even if it was just some sort of joke that went wrong."

The Doctor flicks through a paperback. "Hmm. Sad ending."

Nova looks at the Doctor looking around "They said on the news they'd found a body." "Rose and Nova Tyler" he reads off a photo of the girls together. 

The Doctor sees his reflection in a mirror and behaves as if he's just regenerated and is just seeing himself for the first time. "Ah, could've been worse. Look at the ears." Nova gives him a strange look Rose continues from what Nova had said about the body "All the same, he was nice. Nice bloke."

The Doctor tries to shuffle a pack of cards. "Luck be a lady." "Anyway, if we are going to go to the police, I want to know what I'm saying."

The pack of cards goes flying."I want you to explain everything. Wait no we want you to explain everything" "Maybe not"

The cat flap rattles.

"What's that, then? You got a cat?" Nova answer for Rose "No."

Unseen by anyone else but Nova, the Auton's arm grabs the Doctor by the throat

"We did have, but now they're just strays. They come in off the estate"

Rose comes in from the kitchen area with two mugs of instant coffee. The Doctor is still being strangled, but she takes no notice. Of Nova and the Doctor trying to get the arm off of him.

"I told Mickey to chuck that out. You're all the same. Give a man a plastic hand. Anyway, I don't even know your name. Doctor, what was it?"

The Doctor and Nova manage to throw the arm off. It stops in mid-air and grabs Rose's face instead. The Doctor pulls at it, pulling Rose down on top of him as they fall onto the coffee table and smash it. Jackie is using her hairdryer and hears nothing. The Doctor finally gets it off Rose with his sonic screwdriver, then jabs the device into its palm. The fingers stop flexing.

"It's all right, I've stopped it. There you go, you see? Armless." Nova chuckles at his joke and makes a joke of her own "I think you mean disarmed" which earns a chuckle from The Doctor but Rose looks less than amused at both of them "Do you think?"

Rose hits him with it. "Ow!"

Rose and Nova follow the Doctor outside Rose calls after him "Hold on a minute. You can't just go swanning off." "Yes, I can. Here I am. This is me, swanning off. See you" "But that arm was moving. It tried to kill me."

"Ten out of ten for observation." he tells Rose sarcastically "You can't just walk away. That's not fair. You've got to tell us what's going on." "No, I don't" "You can't just leave us hanging here after that" "Sure I can"

Outside the flats Rose, Nova, and the Doctor are standing Nova is letting Rose do, most of the talking because she knows that trying to intercept won't do much good "All right, then. I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said, if I did that, I'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I'll start talking."

The Doctor looks at Rose unimpressed "Is that supposed to sound tough?" "Sort of." "Doesn't work." Rose huffs "Who are you?" "Told you. The Doctor." "Yeah, but Doctor what?" "Rose I think you mean Doctor Who" Nova jokes earning a chuckle from the Doctor and an eye roll from Rose "Now isn't the time for jokes Novs"

"Just the Doctor." "The Doctor." Nova rolls her eyes at her best friend "That's what he said Rose" "Hello!" "Is that supposed to sound impressive?" "Sort of." "Come on, then. You can tell me. I've seen enough. Are you the police?"

"Rose, does he look like the police? No offense Doctor" he waves it off "none taken, No, I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home." "But what have I done wrong? How come those plastic things keep coming after me?"

"Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you. You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all." "It tried to kill me." Rose points out. "It tried to kill him too" Nova piped up but she gets ignored.

"It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you've met me." "So what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you." "Sort of, yeah." Rose snorts "You're full of it." The Doctor nods "Sort of, yeah." "But, all this plastic stuff. Who else knows about it?" 

"No one." Nova looks at him "What, you're on your own?" The Doctor looks at her "Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on."

When he says that something In Nova spaces out and she flashes back to Gallifrey back to The Time War but she doesn't know that running from something that looks like a pepper pot and is yelling 'EXTERMINATE' then she feels the jolt from where she got shot which snaps her out of the trance. She shakes her head to clear it thinking that was weird then tunes back into what Rose is saying to the Doctor "Okay. Start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do, how did you kill it?"

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead." "So that's radio control?" "Thought control. Are you alright?" "Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?" "Long story." 

Nova finally speaks up after the weird little flashback thing she had "But what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?"

"No." "No." Rose and Nova say at the same time.

"It's not a price war. They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?" "No." "Yes," Rose and Nova once again say at the same time Rose and the Doctor both look at Nova where she said yes she shrugs "What? there is something in my gut telling me that he's telling the truth"

"But you're still listening." the Doctor aims that at Rose as Nova believes him "Really, though, Doctor. Tell me, who are you?" "Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go. That's who I am. Now, forget me, Rose and Nova Tyler. Go home."

The Doctor walks off towards the Tardis with the arm. Rose walks off towards another block of flats when there is a rush of air and a strange noise. She turns and runs back, and the Tardis has gone.

Rose grabs Nova's hand and drags her to Mickey's flat Rose knocks on the door and Mickey opens and lets them in "Hey, hey, here's my woman. Kit off! And Nova of course" Nova rolls her eyes as Rose says "Shut up."

They kiss.

"Coffee?" "No I'm good," Nova says and Rose responds "Yeah, only if you wash the mug. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash. Can I use your computer?" "Yeah. Any excuse to get in the bedroom. Don't read my emails!" Nova smirks at Mickey "What's up with the emails thing? You hiding something Smith?" he shakes his head "nothing and of course not Novs it was a joke"

Then Nova joins Rose at the computer as she uses Search-Wise.net to hunt for Doctor, 17,700,000 results. Doctor Living Plastic 55,300 results. Doctor Blue Box 493 results. The top one says - Doctor Who? ...do you know this man contact Clive here. She clicks on the site and there is a fuzzy picture of the Doctor.

Nova stares at the picture for a moment "Oh my god that looks just like him" Rose nods "yeah I know so how about we go and talk to this Clive person" Nova nods agreeing. Rose convinced Mickey to drive the two of them to meet with Clive.

Mickey parks out in front of Clive's house Rose looks at him " You're not coming in. He's safe. He's got a wife and kids." Nova nods "Yeah We will be fine"

"Yeah, who told you that? He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say." Nova rolls her eyes as she and Rose get out of Mickey's yellow VW beetle.

One of Clive's neighbors puts out his black wheelie bin and gives Mickey a nasty look. Rose knocks on a door across the street. A boy opens it.

"Hello, we've come to see Clive? We've been emailing." the boy calls out "Dad! It's one of your nutters!"

A couch potato comes to the door.

"Oh, sorry. Hello. You must be Rose and Nova. I'm Clive, obviously." "I'd better tell you now. My boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill us." "No, good point. No murders."

Clive waves at Mickey.

A woman Clive's wife calls out "Who is it?" "Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. She's been reading the website. Please, come through. I'm in the shed." "She? She's read a website about the Doctor? She's a she?" Nova laughs as she and Rose follow Clive out to the shed where he keeps his research about the Doctor.

"A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive. I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept it if you know what I mean. If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place. Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just the Doctor. Always The Doctor. And the title seems to have been passed down from father to son. It appears to be an inheritance. That's your Doctor there, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Rose answers as Nova nods "I tracked it down to the Washington public archive just last year. The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original" The original is a picture of Kennedy's cortege going through Dallas. The Doctor is just one face in the crowd.

"November 22nd, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy. You see?" "It must be his father." Nova shakes her head "Something tells me it's not"

"Going further back. April 1912. This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton, and friend. This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason, they canceled the trip and survived. And here we are. 1883. Another Doctor." it's a sketch "And look the same lineage. It's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded. The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake and he has one constant companion." 

Rose looks at him curiously "Who's that?" "Death."

Out in the street, the wheelie bin moves closer to Mickey's car.

"If the Doctor's back, if you've seen him, Rose, Nova then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger."

Mickey watches the bin move and gets out of his car. He goes to the bin and lifts up the lid. "Come on, then."

Clive looks at the two girls " If he's singled you out, if the Doctor's making house calls, then God help you." Mickey shuts the bin lid and finds he is stuck to the plastic. It stretches as he pulls at it, then the bin growls, flexes, snaps and finally whips Mickey inside itself. Burp.

Rose looks at Clive "But who is he? Who do you think he is?" "I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world."

Rose and Nova return to the car. Mickey is sitting behind the steering wheel. "All right, he's a nutter. Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak. You win! What are we going to do tonight? I fancy a pizza." Rose doesn't notice the difference but Nova does because this Mickey is obviously plastic.

"Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!" "Or Chinese." "Pizza!" Plastic Mickey weaves off down the road. While Nova is quietly staring at plastic Mickey trying to figure out what happened to him while they were talking to Clive.

The three of them are sitting at a table at the pizza restaurant and Rose Rose is still oblivious to the fact that Mickey has shiny skin and a fixed grin on his face but Nova noticed and is sitting as far away from him as she can without raising suspicion

"Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it then, dishing out chips. I could do A Levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him. Look where he ended up. What do you think?" Mickey just ignores her question "So, where did you meet this Doctor?" "I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?" "Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that? "No". "Come on." "Sort of.."

Nova stares at plastic Mickey for a moment "Why are you all of a sudden so interested in the Doctor?" But he doesn't pay her any mind just keeps questioning Rose about the Doctor " What was he doing there?" "I'm not going on about it, Mickey. Really, I'm not, because, I know it sounds daft, but I don't think it's safe. I think he's dangerous." "But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe, (deep) sugar, babe, sugar. You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart." "What're you doing that for?"

Nova leans over to Rose and whispers "I think something is wrong... how can you see that he's plastic?" Rose shakes her head and whispers back "What are you talking about no he's not"

A waiter comes up to the table "Your champagne." neither Rose nor Mickey look up but Nova does and notices the waiter is the Doctor.

"We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor?" "Madam, your champagne." he persists "It's not ours. Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?" "I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?" "Doesn't anybody want this champagne?" Nova rolls her eyes at them. "Look, we didn't order it." Plastic Mickey finally looks up to see that the waiter is the Doctor. "Ah. Gotcha."

The Doctor starts shaking the bottle vigorously. "Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!"

The Doctor releases the cage around the cork and it flies into Plastic Mickey's forehead. After a few moments, he spits it out.

"Anyway" 

Plastic Mickey gets up and turns his hand into a chopper. Rose flees, screaming, as Mickey wrecks the table. The Doctor grabs the Auton and pulls off its head. The rest of the customers scream.

"Don't think that's going to stop me" The body gets up and starts flailing around. Rose sets off the fire alarm.

"Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Rose, Nova and the Doctor run through the kitchens carrying the head, while the body wrecks the restaurant before following them to the back exit.

The Doctor seals the exit shut while Rose runs down the alley, past the Tardis. The end is secured by padlocked gates "Open the gate! Use that tube thing. Come on!" Nova gives Rose a look "I told you something was wrong maybe you should listen to me more" "Not the time Nova"

"Sonic screwdriver" "Use it!" "Nah. Tell you what, let's go in here."

The Doctor unlocks the Tardis and goes inside while the Auton hammers on the metal door, making large dents. Nova follows the Doctor into the Tardis.

"You can't hide inside a wooden box. It's going to get us! Doctor!" Rose tries the gate again then runs inside the Tardis. She stops, takes one look and runs outside again. A siren is wailing in the distance. She runs around the Tardis then when the Auton finally smashes through the metal door, she makes up her mind.

Rose looks at the Doctor panicked "It's going to follow us!"The Doctor smirks "The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute."

There has been another redesign. It is still mostly open plan, but the time console is more central and the walls are slightly curved. What were once roundels are now brass colored hexagons. 

"You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. Right. Where do you want to start?"

Rose looks around "Er, the inside is bigger than the outside?" Nova doesn't look too bothered because unknown to them all she has seen the inside of a Tardis before. Of course, she has she wears the key to one around her neck.

"Yes." "It's alien." "Yeah."

Rose looks at him "Are you alien?" "Yes. Is that alright?" Rose nods "yeah." they both turn to Nova who is seemingly calmer than Rose "Yeah it's cool" 

"It's called the Tardis, this thing. T A R D I S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

Rose bursts into tears. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us." Nova hugs her trying to comfort her friends as Rose speaks "Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?" "Oh. I didn't think of that." "He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?"

"Melt?" The plastic head is melting on the console, where it is attached by cables. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no! " The Doctor sets the Tardis in motion "What're you doing?" "Following the signal. It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!"

The Tardis lands and the Doctor runs for the door

"You can't go out there. It's not safe" 

Nighttime on the north bank of the Thames next to the RAF monument.

The Doctor looks out " I lost the signal, I got so close" Rose looks confused " We've moved. Does it fly?" Nova answers before the Doctor has the chance to "Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand." they both look at her in shock she stares back wide-eyed "I don't even understand I don't know how I knew that"

The three of them stand in silence for a moment before Rose speaks again "If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose." "It melted with the head. Are you going to witter on all night?"

"I'll have to tell his mother. Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again! You were right, you are alien." Nova rolls her eyes once again at Rose being dramatic.

"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey" "Yeah, he's not a kid" "It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?"

"All right." "Yes, it is!"

Rose looks at him "If you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the North?" "Lots of planets have a north." "What's a police public call box?"

"It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise." "Okay. And this, this living plastic. What's it got against us?" "Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!"

"Any way of stopping it?" The Doctor holds up a tube of blue liquid Nova looks at him "What is that?" "Anti-plastic" "Anti-plastic?" "Anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hold on. Hide what?" "The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"What's it look like?" "Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London. A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible. What? What?"

The Doctor turns and looks at what Rose and Nova are staring at on the south bank but the penny doesn't drop. "What? What is it? What?" He finally catches on to what Rose and Nova are looking at. It's called the London Eye, it's on the south bank of the Thames and it is the biggest Wheel in the world - so far. The Doctor smirks "Oh. Fantastic!"

The Doctor, Rose, and Nova run across Westminster Bridge.

"Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables " Nova smirks making a joke about the situation "The breast implants." Rose rolls her eyes but laughs anyway.

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath." "What about down here?" Rose looks over the parapet and sees a large manhole entrance at the bottom of some steps. "Looks good to me." The three of them run down and the Doctor opens up the hatch. There is a red light inside.

They climb down a short ladder into a brick-built area with lots of chains. From there they go through a door and down a flight of steps into a multi-level chamber. "The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature." "Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go."

"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance." Nova shrugs at the look Rose is giving her.

He goes down to a catwalk overlooking the seething vat. "I seek an audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."

The stuff in the vat flexes. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"

Rose spots someone on a lower level and runs down. Nova stays in place watching the Doctor try and talk to the living plastic creature.

"Oh, God! Mickey, it's me! It's okay. It's all right." "That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!" "You're stinking. Doctor, they kept him alive."

"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy." "You knew that and you never said?" "Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" The Doctor continues downwards.

"Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"

A sort of face forms in the vat of plastic.

"Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights. I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learned how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."

"Doctor!" Nova and Rose shout out at the same time.

A pair of shop dummies grab the Doctor. One takes the vial of anti-plastic from his pocket.

"That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not. What do you mean?"

A door slides back to reveal the Tardis.

"No. Oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship. That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"

Nova is pulled into another flashback type thing at the mention of the war she can hear a woman's voice yelling at her as she runs " "Nova no...not my baby you leave you, my baby girl, alone" she hears the woman scream as two laser shots hit her on both sides of her chest and hears an unknown voice scream "NO! Mum!" then she sees a pepper pot coming up from her right. Once again is pulled out with the jolt of getting shot. She feels the watch in her pocket get heavy like it's trying to communicate with her but she ignores it focusing on the situation at hand.

"What's it doing?!" "It's the Tardis! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Nova! Just leg it now!"

As the plastic in the vat keeps roaring, Rose phones her mother. "Mum?" Jackie answers "Oh, there you are. I was just going to phone. You and Nova can get compensation. I said so. I've got this document thing off the police. Don't thank me." "where are you, mum?" "I'm in town" " No, go home! Just go home right now!" "Darling, you're breaking up. Listen, I'm just going to do a bit of late-night shopping. I'll see you later. Ta-ra!"

"Mum! Mum!" Rose calls out. Jackie goes into Queens Arcade, which contains the Underground station entrance.

The Consciousness starts throwing energy bolts around. "It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!"

The Eye lights up with energy.

Rose looks at us "it's the end of the world."

"There's no point creating a spreadsheet if you're going to spend summer money in winter months." A shop dummy moves. "Oh, my God! I thought they were dummies. I nearly had a heart attack"

Everyone stops to watch the show in all the store windows until one dummy smashes the glass and comes out. Jackie is coming down the escalator. "It's true. Everything I read, all the stories. It's all true."

An Auton's fingers drop and it shoots Clive.

The plastic in the vat is getting extremely agitated.

"Get out, Rose! Nova! Just get out! Run!"

"The stairs have gone."

The Autons try to push the Doctor into the vat. Nova, Rose, and Mickey run to the Tardis.

"We haven't got the key!" "We're going to die!" Rose looks around for other possibilities.

Back at the shopping center, Autons start coming down the escalator, shooting at anyone. Jackie finally screams, throws away her plastic bag and runs. But outside the Arcade is just as dangerous. The Autons shoot a passing taxi driver. She hides behind the crashed vehicle, then three brides smash their way out of the shop behind her.

"No!"

"Time Lord." hearing that makes the watch in Nova's pocket feel heavy once again but she pays it no mind trying to figure out how to get everyone out of there alive.

Rose stands up and looks at the Doctor, then runs round the chamber. "Just leave him! There's nothing you can do!" "I've got no A-Levels, no job, no future." She grabs an ax as the three brides prepare to shoot Jackie.

"But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastics team. I've got the bronze!" Rose chops through the rope holding a very long chain to the wall and takes firm hold. She runs and swings out along the side of the catwalk, kicking the two Autons into the vat. The second one also drops the vial of anti-plastic into it. The golden Nestene screams as it starts to turn blue.

"Rose!" The Doctor and Nova both yell out The Doctor grabs her as she swings back. "Now we're in trouble."

Explosions start and the signals from the Eye stop. The shop dummies start to stagger then fall over. The Doctor and Rose run to the Tardis, where Mickey is holding on for dear life, and they all go inside. The Tardis dematerializes.

The Tardis materializes on the Embankment by a row of shuttered kiosks and Mickey runs out, terrified. Jackie answers her mobile phone.

"Rose, Rose, don't go out of the house you or Nova" Rose goes over to Mickey, who is trying to hide behind a pallet. The Doctor stays in the doorway of the Tardis.

Rose looks at him "A fat lot of good you were." "Nestene Consciousness? Easy." "You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me." "Ohhh She has a point we'd all be dead if it weren't for her"

"Yes, I would. Thank you. Right then, I'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you two could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge."

Nova smirks at him "I'm in that sounds cool" Mickey looks at us with wide eyes "Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing." Nova rolls her eyes "He's not invited. What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere."

"Is it always this dangerous?" "Yeah." Rose looks at Nova "You're going no matter what I say aren't you?" she gives her a smile "yeah I'm afraid so" she nods "Yeah, I can't. I've er, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so."

"See you around" The Doctor and Nova walk into the Tardis.

The Tardis dematerializes.

Nova smiles at the Doctor "you said the T stood for Time right? well that means this is a time machine as well?" he nods "right" Nova grins at him "well if you go back and tell Rose that she'll come too" The Doctor grins at Nova pressing some buttons. 

"Come on, let's go. Come on. Come on."

The Tardis materializes again the Doctor opens the door "By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?" Rose smiles at Mickey "Thanks." "Thanks for what?" "Exactly." Rose kisses Mickey on the cheek and runs into the Tardis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is 'Rose' hope you guys like it and I will try and have 'The End of The World' up as soon as I can. 
> 
> Yes, I gave Nova flashes of her past that she doesn't understand yet and she won't understand until she opens the watch which I am thinking of having her do in 'Dalek' you know seeing one for the first time in years snaps something inside of her or something like that.


	4. The End of The World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is 'The End of The World' reminder that this is going to be in the third person unless stated otherwise.

The Doctor looks at Rose and Nova "Right then, Rose Tyler, Nova Smith you tell me. Where do you want to go? Backward or forwards in time. It's your choice. What's it going to be?"

Rose and Nova share a look before Rose says "Forward". "How far?" The girls think for a moment before Nova answers " One hundred years".

After a few second the Doctor looks at them "There you go. Step outside those doors, it's the twenty-second century." Rose looks at him with disbelief "You're kidding." "That's a bit boring, though. Do you want to go further?"

Nova smirks and nods her head letting Rose answer "Fine by us." "Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the new Roman Empire." "You think you're so impressive." "I am so impressive."

Nova chuckles as Rose says "You wish." the Doctor smirks at the two girls "Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go. Hold on!"

The Tardis zooms down a time vortex. After they land Rose looks at the Doctor "Where are we? What's out there?"

** Gallery 15 **

Rose and Nova go down a flight of steps and a large shutter in the wall descends to reveal an orbital view of the Earth.

"You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/apple/26. Five billion years in your future and this is the day"

He looks at his wristwatch. "Hold on." The sun flares and turns red. "This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world."

** Space **

A pair of small spaceships approach a large cruciform space station hanging in Earth orbit.

A computer projects through the speakers "Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation, and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for 15:39"

** Platform One **

Again a computer speaks "Followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite."

The Doctor, Rose, and Nova walk along a corridor.

"So, when it says guests, does that mean people?" the Doctor looks at Rose "Depends what you mean by people." "I mean people. What do you mean?" Nova looks at her best friend "He probably means Aliens" right before the Doctor answers with "Aliens" Nova smirks knowing she was right... Nova likes being right she always has. Unknown to her that is the Time Lady in her. "What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?"

"It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn."

The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on a wall panel. Rose looks at him "What for?" "Fun." Nova gives him a funny look "People gather to watch a Planet burn for fun?" "Yep"

** Observation Gallery **

A large area with a few display cases and a view of space to the front and above.

"Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich." Rose looks a bit confused "But, hold on. They did this once on Newsround Extra. The sun expanding, that takes hundreds of years." "Millions, but the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there? Gravity satellites holding back the sun." "The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things." "They did, and the Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over."

Nova decided to insert herself into the conversation "How long's it got?" "About half an hour and then the planet gets roasted." "Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?"

The Doctor glances at them "I'm not saving it. Time's up." "But what about the people?" "It's empty. They're all gone. No one left." Rose sighs and looks at Nova "Just us, then." Nova smiles with a nod "Seems like it"

A blue-skinned person with golden slit eyes strides towards them. "Who the hell are you?" The Doctor smiles "Oh, that's nice, thanks." "But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now." "That's me. I'm a guest. Look, I've got an invitation. Look. There, you see? It's fine, you see? The Doctor plus two. I'm the Doctor, this is Rose and Nova Tyler. They're my plus two. Is that all right?"

The Doctor puts away the piece of apparently blank paper he was showing to the Steward. "Well, obviously. Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy." The Steward goes over to a lectern.

The Doctor looks at Rose and Nova "The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time." Rose is staring after the Steward "He's blue." "Yeah."

"He's an Alien Ro what did you expect" Rose rolls her eyes "Okay."

The Steward speaks "We have in attendance the Doctor, Rose, and Nova Tyler. Thank you. All staff to their positions."

A lot of small people appear. And the Steward announces "Hurry, now, thank you. Quick as we can. Come along, come along. And now, might I introduce the next honored guest? Representing the Forest of Cheam, we have trees, namely, Jabe, Lute, and Coffa."

A humanoid tree woman enters with two larger male escorts.

"There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon."

Another blue alien, this time mostly head and body, sitting on a transport pod. "And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme."

A group of black-robed bipeds. "The inventors of Hypo-slip Travel Systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you."

Fur clad reptilians. The announcements of variations on the biped theme continue. "Cal Spark Plug. Mister and Mrs. Pakoo. The Ambassadors from the City-State of Binding Light."

The trees go up to the Doctor. Jabe speaks "The Gift of Peace. I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather." She gives the Doctor a rooted twig in a small pot. "Thank you. Yes, gifts. Er, I give you in return air from my lungs. " He breathes gently on Jabe. Nova has to hold back her laughter at the Doctor. 

Jabe gives him a flirty smile "How intimate." "There's more where that came from." "I'll bet there is" The steward keeps announcing the arrival of the guests "From the Silver Devastation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe"

A large glass case barely makes it through the doorway. It contains a giant humanoid head with straggly hair and squinting eyes.

"The Moxx of Balhoon." "My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily salivas." Moxx's spit hits Rose in the face. Nova holds a hand to her mouth trying not to laugh at Rose.

"Thank you very much" The black-robed group glide up. "Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs." A large metal hand holds out a ball. "A gift of peace in all good faith."

The steward finally announces the last guest "And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen."

A face in a piece of thin skin stretched in a rectangular frame is wheeled in by two men hidden in top-to-toe hospital whites. "Oh, now don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturize me. Moisturize me"

One of her attendants uses a pump spray on the skin. Nova eyes Cassandra warily because there is just something about her that Nova doesn't trust and Nova's gut feelings are rarely wrong.

"Truly, I am the last Human. My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honor them and say goodbye. Oh, no tears, no tears. I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg. Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband? Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines. And here, another rarity."

Rose has walked round the back of Cassandra to see just how thin she is, and a 50's jukebox is wheeled in. "According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!" One of the little attendants presses a button, a 45 is selected and the strains of Tainted Love by Soft Cell ring out.

"Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in thirty minutes" Rose finally can't take all the aliens, and runs out. The Doctor goes to follow her, but gets intercepted by Jabe "Doctor?" Nova nods to the Doctor "I'll find Rose" and follows Rose.

Flash! from a device she is holding. A type of camera, presumably."Thank you."

"A gift of peace in all good faith." "No, you're very kind, but I'm just the Steward." "A gift of peace in all good faith." "Well, yes, thank you. Of course" The steward takes the proffered ball. Jabe consults her camera, which twitters like a bird.

"Identify species. Please identify species. Now stop it. Identify his race. Where's he from? It's impossible." She hurries away. One of the Adherent's gifts has been placed on a shelf in a display stand. It opens, and a four-legged metal spider scurries away.

** Corridor **

Nova has just found Rose who had wandered off and is looking at the growing Sun through a window when a young woman of the same race as the Steward comes round the corner. She is wearing overalls and a baseball cap.

Rose looks at the woman "Sorry. Are we allowed to be in here?" The woman looks at her "You have to give us permission to talk." Nova smiles at her "you have permission." "Thank you. And, no, you're not in the way. Guests are allowed anywhere."

Rose gives the woman a smile "Okay"

Raffalo goes to a wall panel and unlocks it. Rose watches her as Nova speaks to her "What's your name?" "Raffalo." "Raffalo?" questioned Rose "Yes, miss. I won't be long, I've just got to carry out some maintenance. There's a tiny little glitch in the Face of Boe's suite. There must be something blocking the system. He's not getting any hot water."

Rose looks at her for a moment before speaking "So, you're a plumber?" "That's right, miss." Raffalo answers "They still have plumbers?" "I hope so, else I'm out of a job." "Where are you from?" Rose and Nova ask at the same time they smile at each other.

"Crespallion." "That's a planet, is it?" Raffalo shakes her head "No. Crespallion's part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex fifty-six. And where are you from, miss? If you don't mind me asking." Rose shakes her head " No, not at all. Er, I don't know. A long way away. We just sort of hitched a lift with this man. I didn't even think about it. We don't even know who he is. He's a complete stranger. Anyway, don't let us keep you. Good luck with it."

"Thank you, miss. And er, thank you for your permission. Not many people are that considerate." Rose nods "Okay. See you later." Nova smiles at the woman.

Rose and Nova leave. Raffalo removes the wall panel and has a look inside.

"Now then. Control, I'm at junction nineteen and I think the problem's coming from in here. I'll go inside and have a look."

Before she can crawl into the conduit, there is a tapping sound of metal on metal. "What's that? Is something in there?" A metal spider comes towards her. "Oh! Who are you, then?" It scuttles away. "Hold on! I if you're an upgrade I just need to register you, that's all. Oh, come back."

She gets inside the conduit. "Ah, there you are. Now, I just need to register your ident. Oh, there's two of you. Got yourself a little mate. I think I'd better report this to Control. How many of you are there? What are you? Oh, no, no, no!" Raffalo gets dragged along the conduit.

** Steward's Office **

The Steward puts his gift on a side table and sits at his desk. The computer beeps and burbles at him. "What's that? Well, how should I know?"

He makes a broadcast.

"Would the owner of the blue box in private gallery fifteen please report to the Steward's office immediately. Guests are reminded that use of teleportation devices is strictly forbidden under the Peace Treaty five point four slash cup slash sixteen. Thank you."

The ball hatches another metal spider.

** Space **

"Earth death in 25 minutes" the computer announced

** Gallery 15 **

Rose and Nova are playing with the ball tossing it back and forth to each other. The computer repeats "Earth death in 25 minutes" "Oh thanks" Rose mutters to herself as she tosses the ball back to Nova who tosses it up in the air for a few more minutes before sitting it down as Rose picks up the plant pot and talks to it "Hello. My name's Rose. That's a sort of plant. We might be related. I'm talking to a twig."

Nova chuckles as she lays the ball down a minute after she laid it down the ball hatched.

** Outside Gallery 15 **

The little assistants are wheeling the Tardis away. The Doctor calls out "Oi, now, careful with that. Park it properly. No scratches." One of them hands the Doctor a ticket. It says on one side - Have A Nice Day. A pair of spiders scuttle along the ceiling unnoticed. 

** Gallery 15 **

The spider scans Rose's hand then scans Nova's hand and scuttles away when the Doctor calls out. "Rose? Nova? Are you in there?"

The Doctor enters.

"Aye, aye. What do you think, then?" Rose is the one that answers "Great. Yeah, fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper. They're just so alien. The aliens are so alien. You look at 'em and they're alien." "Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South." the Doctor jokes, Nova laughs not really understanding the joke but laughs nonetheless.

Rose looks at the Doctor "Where are you from?" he brushes her question off "All over the place." "They all speak English" "No, you just hear English. It's a gift of the Tardis. The telepathic field gets inside your brain and translates."

Rose looks at him "It's inside our brains?" "Well, in a good way." "Your machine gets inside my head. It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask? " Rose snaps "I didn't think about it like that." "No, you were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South. Who are you, then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?"

"I'm just the Doctor." "From what planet?" by now you can tell that the Doctor is getting annoyed with the questions because he snaps "Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!" "Where are you from?" "What does it matter? " "Tell me who you are!" Rose snaps back at him then he practically yells "This is who I am, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is me."

Rose goes to say something else but Nova puts a hand on her shoulder "I think you should just drop it Rose he clearly doesn't want to talk about it" But as per usual Rose goes ahead and speaks "Yeah, and Nova and I are here too because you brought us here, so just tell me." Nova rolls her eyes thinking 'One of these days she is going to listen to me'

The computer announces "Earth Death in 20 minutes. Earth Death in 20 minutes." Rose takes a breath and says "All right. As my mate Shareen says, don't argue with the designated driver."

Rose takes out her mobile phone.

"Can't exactly call for a taxi. There's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit." the Doctor looks at Rose and takes her phone "Tell you what" He takes her phone apart he uses his sonic screwdriver on it "With a little bit of jiggery-pokery." Rose gives him a weird look "Is that a technical term, jiggery-pokery?" "Yeah, I came first in jiggery-pokery. What about you?" "No, I failed hullabaloo." "Oh. There you go" Nova shakes her head with a laugh at the too as the Doctor hands Rose her phone back.

Rose calls her Mum. "Hello?" Rose smiles "Mum?" "Oh, what is it?" 

**The Tyler Flat**

Jackie is emptying the washing machine. "What's wrong? What have I done now? Oh, this red top's falling to bits."

** Gallery 15 **

"You should get your money back. Go on."

** The Tyler Flat **

"There must be something, you never phone in the middle of the day"

** Gallery 15 **

Rose laughs "What's so funny?" "Nothing. You all right, though?"

** The Tyler Flat **

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

** Gallery 15 **

"What day is it?"

** The Tyler Flat **

"Wednesday, all day. You got a hangover?"

** Gallery 15 **

"Oh, I tell you what. Put a quid in that Lottery syndicate. I'll pay you back later." "Yeah, er, I was just calling 'cos"

** The Tyler Flat **

"Nova and I might be late home." "Is there something wrong?"

** Gallery 15 **

"No. we're fine. Top of the world."

Jackie hangs up

Rose smiles the Doctor smirks at her "Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill." "That was five billion years ago. So, she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead." "Bundle of laughs, you are." the Doctor tells her

The space station shakes. The Doctor looks at Rose and Nova "That's not supposed to happen" 

** Steward's Office **

"Well, what was it? I'm just getting green lights at this end." He makes a calm broadcast.

"Honoured guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you." He berates Control.

"The whole place shook! I felt it. I've hosted all sorts of events on Platforms One, Three, Six and Fifteen and I've never felt the slightest tremor. I warn you if this lot decides to sue. I'm going to scan the infrastructure." He does so, then hears a scuttling sound. "What's that? Control, I don't want to worry you, but I'm picking up readings. I have no idea. Well, they're small. The scan says they're metal. I don't know what they look like!"

Then he sees one on the desk. "Although I imagine they might look rather like that. You're not on the guest list. How did you get on board?" The spider pushes a button on his desk keyboard. "No." The steward says as the computer says "Sun filter deactivated" "No!" "Sun filter descending."

The room starts to fill with white light from the ceiling downwards as the filter on the window lowers. "No! Sun filter, up! No, no, no!" " External temperature four thousand degrees." "Control, respond! Sun filter up! Argh!" Calls out panicked trying to get the sun filters in the room back up. 

The spider escapes through a small vent into the corridor.

** Observation Gallery **

Moxx is talking "indubitably, this is the Bad Wolf scenario. I find the inherent laxity of the on-going multiverse"

The Doctor, Nova, and Rose walk in The Doctor talking to them "That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that. What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?" Jabe listens "It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Where's the engine room?" The Doctor asks her "I don't know, but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite, I could show you and your wife" "neither on of them are my wife" the doctor answers quickly "Partner?" "No." "Concubine?" "Nope" "Prostitute?"

Rose scoffs "Whatever we are it must be invisible. Do you mind? Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. We are going to catch up with family. A quick word with Michael Jackson."

Rose drags Nova to talk to Cassandra. "Don't start a fight." The doctor calls after them He offers Jabe his arm. "I'm all yours." Nova laughs as Rose says "And we want you home by midnight." Sounding very much like a scolding mother.

"Earth Death in 15 minutes. Earth Death in 15 minutes." The computer announces

**Maintenance Duct**

A multitude of spiders scuttles out of sight behind the swags of wiring and piping.

"Who's in charge of Platform One? Is there a Captain or what?" The Doctor asks Jabe "There's just the Steward and the staff. All the rest is controlled by the metal mind." "You mean the computer? But who controls that?" "The Corporation. They move Platform One from one artistic event to another."

"But there's no one from the Corporation on board." "They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic. It's the height of the Alpha class Nothing can go wrong." "Unsinkable?" "If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate." "You're telling me. I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable. I ended up clinging to an iceberg. It wasn't half cold. So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?"

"I'm afraid not." "Fantastic." "I don't understand. In what way is that fantastic?"

** Observation Gallery **

Nova and Rose are listening to Cassandra speak "Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy, down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice. I'd have such fun." Nova still getting that shuddering feeling for "the last human" lets Rose ask the questions "What happened to everyone else? The human race, where did it go?" "They say mankind has touched every star in the sky."

"So, you're not the last human." "I am the last pure human. The others mingled. Oh, they call themselves New humans and Proto-humans and Digi-humans, even 'Humanish, but you know what I call them? Mongrels." "Right. And you stayed behind." "I kept myself pure."

"How many operations have you had?" "Seven hundred and eight. Next week, it's seven hundred and nine. I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word? You could be flatter, Rose. You've got a little bit of a chin poking out." Nova scoffs As Rose tells her "I'd rather die." "Honestly, it doesn't hurt." "No, I mean it. I would rather die. It's better to die than live like you, a bitchy trampoline." Nova snickers at Roses comment about the bitchy trampoline.

"Oh, well. What do you know." "Nova and I were born on that planet, and so was my mum, and so was my dad, and that makes us officially the last human beings in this room, 'cos you're not human. You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin. Nice talking."

The Adherents watch Rose and Nova leave.

**Maintenance Duct**

"So tell me, Jabe, what's a tree, like you doing in a place like this?" "Respect for the Earth." the Doctor gives her a look "Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions" "Well, perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasions." "In case your share prices drop? I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land." "All the same, we respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below, and I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest"

"Excuse me."

He scans a door panel marked Welcome to Platform One. Guide of Platform One Do You Need Assistance. A keypad labeled Maintenance login, then Access denied.

"And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left. I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species. It refused to admit your existence. And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right. I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just wanted to say how sorry I am." Jabe asks.

She puts her hand on his arm, and the Doctor puts his hand over hers. A tear drops from his eye. He gets the door open.

**Engine Room**

It runs the whole depth of the Platform. The Doctor and Jabe are by a catwalk that runs through a series of large fans.

"Is it me, or is it a bit nippy?"

In a corridor, Rose and Nova are met by the Adherents, who knock them out by pistol-whipping them with a weapon. They drag them into a room.

"Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it retro"

He scans a panel.

"Gotcha."

He pulls it off. A spider scuttles out and up the wall.

"What the hell's that?" "Is it part of the retro?" Jabe questions "I don't think so. Hold on."

The Doctor aims his screwdriver at the spider, then Jabe lassoes it. "Hey, nice liana." "Thank you. We're not supposed to show them in public." "Don't worry, I won't tell anybody. Now then, who's been bringing their pets on board?" "What does it do?" "Sabotage"

The computer announces "Earth Death in 10 minutes."

"And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on."

"Earth Death in 10 minutes" The computer repeats 

**Observation Gallery**

Cassandra is talking "The planet's end. Come gather, come gather. Bid farewell to the cradle of civilization. Let us mourn her with a traditional ballad"

The jukebox selects a record labeled Toxic by Britney Spears.

**Outside the Steward's Office**

Smoke from the room is filling the corridor and the glare is coming through a small glass panel in the door. The little assistants have gathered.

"Hold on. Get back." The Doctor does the sonic thing on another small panel. "Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising." the computer says "Is the Steward in there?!" Jabe asks "You can smell him. Hold on, there's another sun filter programmed to descend."

He runs off.

**Gallery 15**

"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending."

Rose and Nova wake in time to see the deadly glare begin to fill the room. Rose hammers on the door. As she and Nova are calling out "Let us out! Let us Out!"

"Sun filter descending."

**Outside Gallery 15**

"Let us out! Let us Out!"

**Gallery 15**

"Let us out!" Rose continues to call out as Nova looks around for a way out but finds none "Sun filter descending" Rose looks at Nova "We're gonna die in here aren't we?" Nova shakes her "No Rose the Doctor won't let that happen he'll get us out of here"

**Outside Gallery 15**

"Sun filter descending" 

He works the door panel.

"Anyone in there?" the Doctor calls out

**Gallery 15**

"Let us out!"

**Outside Gallery 15**

"Oh, well, it would be you two"

** Gallery 15 **

"Open the door!"

**Outside Gallery 15**

"Hold on. Give us two ticks"

**Gallery 15**

The scorching rays reach the top of the door.

"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending"

**Outside Gallery 15**

"Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising"

**Gallery 15**

"Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising"

**Outside Gallery 15**

"Sun filter descending."

"Just what we need"

**Gallery 15**

"The computer's getting clever." the Doctor tells them

"Stop mucking about! And get us out of here" Rose calls out nearly hysterical. 

**Outside Gallery 15**

"I'm not mucking about. It's fighting back."

**Gallery 15**

"Open the door!" Rose snaps "I know!"

Rose and Nova run down the steps away from the glare as it moves down the door.

Rose glances at Nova "How are you so calm right now?" Nova shrugs "I just figure that being level headed here will help more than freaking out" She pulls out her Fob watch and just looks at it for a minute she can feel it call to her but she puts in back in her pocket "I don't know why you keep that thing it's a broken pocket watch"

Nova shrugs "it's the only link I have to my past I was clutching it when you're mum found me broken or not it's all I have of my past that's why I keep it" 

**Outside Gallery 15**

"The lock's melted!" Rose calls out to the Doctor

"Sun filter descending. Sun filter" Informs them

**Outside Gallery 15**

"Descending. Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising."

Rose runs back up to the door while Nova stays at the bottom of the stairs "The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors. Stay there!"

**Gallery 15**

"Don't move!" the Doctor tells her Rose rolls her eyes "Where are am I going to go, Ipswich?"

"Earth Death in five minutes." The computer announces

**Observation Gallery**

"The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One." Jabe informs the other guests "How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me."

"Summon the Steward." Moxx demands "I'm afraid the Steward is dead." "Who killed him?"

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe. He invited us. Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face." Cassandra tells them trying to throw suspicion off of her.

"Easy way of finding out. Someone bought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to master." The Doctor informs them walking back into the room.

The Doctor puts down the spider that Jabe was scanning, and it scuttles off to Cassandra and scans her, then goes to the black gowned group.

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse! " "That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it"

He goes over to the Adherents. Their leader tries to hit him, so he pulls off its arm. "A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea." He pulls one of the wires dangling from the arm, and the Adherents all collapse.

"Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo. Go home." The Doctor gives the spider a nudge, and it returns to Cassandra. "I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed. At arms!" Her attendants raise their spray guns.

"What are you going to do, moisturize me?" the Doctor asks sarcastically "With acid. Oh, you're too late, anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax-free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face." "Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?" "I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous." "Five billion years and it still comes down to money."

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am the last human, Doctor. Me. Not those freaky little kids of yours." "Arrest her, the infidel"

"Oh, shut it, pixie. I've still got my final option."

"Earth Death in three minutes."

"And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn."

"Then you'll burn with us." Jabe tells her "Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders activate."

There is a series of explosions through the Platform.

"Forcefields have gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband. Oh, shame on me."

"Safety systems failing." the computer announces

"Bye, bye, darlings. Bye, bye, my darlings"

"Cassandra and her attendants beam out."

"Heat levels rising." "Reset the computer." "Only the Steward would know-how."

"No. We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on. You lot, just chill" the Doctor tells them. "Heat rising"

**Space**

"Earth Death in two minutes. Earth Death in two minutes."

**Maintenance Duct**

"Heat levels critical"

**Engine Room**

"Heat levels critical" 

"Oh. And guess where the switch is."

On the other side of the turning razor-sharp fans.

"Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising."

The Doctor pulls a breaker lever and the fans slow a little, but it resets as soon as he lets go of it.

"External temperature five thousand degrees."

Jabe pulls the breaker and holds it down. "You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place." the Doctor tells her "I know" "Jabe, you're made of wood." "Then stop wasting time, Time Lord."

"Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising."

**Observation Gallery**

"Heat levels hazardous." The observation window begins to crack. "We're going to die!" "Heat levels hazardous."

The Doctor makes it past the first fan.

**Gallery 15**

The window begins to crack here, too "Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction." Random pieces of deadly glare lance into the room.

Engine Room

"Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical." The Doctor looks back at Jabe, then times his run past the second fan.

Glare lances through into the main observation gallery.

"Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising" Jabe starts to combust. She lets go of the breaker and the fans speed up to faster than before until they are just a blur.

"Planet explodes in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five" The Doctor shuts his eyes and it's almost like time slows down as he walks past the last fan. "Four." He opens his eyes, realizes he is safe and dashes for the reset breaker.

"Raise shields"

**Gallery 15**

"One." A forcefield envelopes Platform One as the Earth starts to boil, then explodes.

"Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair."

Rose opens her eyes and nudges Nova open opens her eyes as the cracks in the window vanish, and they see the fractured remains of home floating by.

"Exoglass repair." In the engine rooms, the fans have slowed right down for the Doctor to walk back easily to Jabe's smoking remains.

**Observation Gallery**

Rose and Nova enter. The Moxx of Balhoon had got fried by the glare. The Doctor enters and goes over to the two other trees. He gives them the bad news.

"I'm sorry." the Doctor tells them 

"You all right?" Rose asks him as he approaches her and Nova "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby."

He smashes open the alleged ostrich egg to reveal a small device.

"Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed. "Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces." then Cassandra is beamed back in. she glances around "oh." "The last human."

"So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club." "People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them." "It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter"

"And creak?" "and what?" Cassandra asks confused "Creak. You're creaking." "What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!" "You raised the temperature."

"Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything." "Help her." Rose tells him while giving Nova a help me look Nova shakes her head "She tried to kill us Rose... you try and kill me and I am not going to help you"

"Everything has its time and everything dies." "I'm too young!"

Splat! Cassandra explodes

**Space**

"Shuttles four and six departing. This unit now closing down for maintenance."

Observation Gallery

Only Rose, Nova, and the Doctor are left, looking at the asteroids that were once the Earth as they float past the red giant Sun. "The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just" "Come with me." The Doctor tells her. 

**London**

A baby cries, a man laughs. The Doctor and Rose stand in the middle of teeming people going about their daily lives.

"Big Issue! Big Issue!"

"You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky. My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before its time." the Doctor tells Rose and Nova

"What happened?" Rose questioned, "There was a war and we lost." "A war with who? What about your people?" "I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left traveling on my own 'cos there's no one else."

Hearing him say that for some reason that she doesn't understand it makes Nova sad but she doesn't know why but it does so she smiles at the Doctor "You've got me and you've got Rose"

"You've both seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?" Nova shakes her "No" and Rose looks conflicted "I don't know. I want. Oh, can you smell chips?"

"Yeah. Yeah." "I want chips." Rose tells them "Me too." Nova laughs "Me three" "Right then, before you get me back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay." Rose stars walking away when "No money." Nova chuckles as Rose says "What sort of date are you? Come on then, tightwad, chips are on me. We've only got five billion years till the shops close"

The three of them walk off towards a shop to get some chips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was 'The End of The World' I hope you guys like it, I will try and have the next chapter up soon which will be 'The Unquiet Dead'


	5. The Unquiet Dead

A small altar with a cross on it flanked by a pair of candles. The rest of the room is also candle-lit and there are arum lilies in vases by an open coffin. The bald Welsh undertaker lights the gaslamp then speaks to his client.

"Sneed and Company offer their sincerest condolences, sir, in this most trying hour." "Grandmamma had a good innings, Mister Sneed. She was so full of life. I can't believe she's gone." "Not gone, Mister Redpath, sir. Merely sleeping." "May I have a moment?" "Yes, of course. I shall be in the next room, should you require anything."

Sneed leaves. The man gazes down the corpse of his mother. Her skin turns blue for a moment then her eyes open. She grabs her son by the throat and knocks over a vase. The crash brings Sneed back in.

"Oh, no. No"

Sneed frees Redpath from the woman's grasp, forces her down and tries to put the coffin lid on.

"Gwyneth! Get down here now! We've got another one!"

The vigorous corpse pushes the lid off, knocking Sneed out, and kicks her way out of the coffin side. She walks down the snow-covered street, groaning, and with blue vapor coming from her screaming mouth.

****

The Tardis is in a rather jerky flight.

"Hold that one down!" "I'm holding this one down." Rose tells him "Well, hold them both down." he tells her Nova rolls her eyes and holds the other one down as Rose says "It's not going to work." Rose tries to stretch across half the console. But Nova stops her "I got this one you just hold that one down" Rose nods at her.

"Oi! I promised the two of you a time machine and that's what you're getting. Now, you've seen the future, let's have a look at the past. 1860. How does 1860 sound?" the Doctor asks them "What happened in 1860?" questions Rose "I don't know, let's find out. Hold on, here we go!"

****

"Gwyneth! Where are you, girl? Gwyneth!" Gwyneth comes in from outside. "Where've you been? I was shouting." "I've been in the stables, sir, breaking the ice for old Sampson." "Well, get back in there and harness him up." "Whatever for, sir?" "The stiffs are getting lively again. Mister Redpath's grandmother, she's up and on her feet and out there somewhere on the streets. We've got to find her."

"Mister Sneed, for shame. How many more times? It's ungodly." "Don't look at me like it's my fault. Now, come on, hurry up. She was 86. She can't have got far." "What about Mister Redpath? Did you deal with him?" "No. She did." "That's awful, sir. I know it's not my place, and please, forgive me for talking out of turn, sir. But this is getting beyond, now. Something terrible is happening in this house, and we've got to get help." "And we will, as soon as I get that dead old woman locked up and safe and sound. Now stop prevaricating, girl. Get the hearse ready. We're going body snatching."

****

The Tardis materializes at the end of a snowy street. The Doctor, Rose, and Nova are lying on the floor. It must have been a rough landing.

"Blimey!" Rose exclaims "You're telling me. Are you alright?" Nova nods "Yep fine" "Yeah. I think so. Nothing broken. Did we make it? Where are we?" "I did it. Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860." Nova smiles at them "wow that's so weird. It's Christmas."

"All yours." but Rose keeps talking "But, it's like, think about it, though. Christmas. 1860. Happens once, just once and it's gone, it's finished, it'll never happen again. Except for you. You can go back and see days that are dead and gone a hundred thousand sunsets ago. No wonder you never stay still."

"Not a bad life" "Better with three. Come on, then." the Doctor stops her "Hey, where do you think you're going?" "1860." "Uhhh Rose might not want to go out dressed like that" the Doctor nods in agreement "Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella. There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left. Hurry up! Both of you"

****

Old Sampson and his partner are pulling the hearse slowly down the street.

"Not a sign. Where is she?" "She's vanished into the ether, sir. Where can she be?" "You tell me, girl." "What do you mean? " "Gwyneth, you know full well." "No, sir. I can't." "Use the sight" "It's not right, sir." "Find the old lady or you're dismissed. Now, look inside, girl. Look deep. Where is she?" "She's lost, sir. She's so alone. Oh, my lord. So many strange things in her head." "But where?" "She's excited about tonight. Before she passed on, she was going to see him." "Who's him?" "The great man. All the way from London. The great, great man."

****

"Mister Dickens, Mister Dickens. Excuse me, sir, Mister Dickens. This is your call. Are you quite well, sir?" "Splendid, splendid. Sorry." "Time you were on, sir." "Absolutely. I was just brooding. Christmas Eve. Not the best of times to be alone." "Did no one travel with you, sir? No lady wife waiting out front?" "I'm afraid not." "You can have mine if you want." "Oh, I wouldn't dare. I've been rather, let's say, clumsy, with family matters. Thank God I'm too old to cause any more trouble." "You speak as though it's all over, sir." "No, it's never over. On and on I go, the same old show. I'm like a ghost, condemned to repeat myself for all eternity." "It's never too late, sir. You can always think up some new turns." "No, I can't. Even my imagination grows stale. I'm an old man. Perhaps I've thought everything I'll ever think. Still, the lure of the limelight is as potent as a pipe, what? Eh? On with the motley."

****

The Doctor is working under the console when Rose and Nova return, appropriately coiffed and attired for 1860. "Blimey!" "Don't laugh." Rose tells him "You both look beautiful, considering."

"Considering what?" Nova questions "That you're human."

Rose gives Nova a look "I think that's a compliment." NOva looks at the Doctor "Aren't you going to change?" "I've changed my jumper. Come on." "You stay there. You've done this before. This is ours" Rose grabs Nova's arm and drags her out of the Tardis with her

****

Rose opens the door and steps gingerly out into the fallen snow. Pulling Nova with her

"Ready for this you two? Here we go. History"

****

Charles Dickens walks out onto the stage where an appreciate audience applauds, including one dead woman. The Doctor and Rose walk down the street while a choir sing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. They move on before the hearse stops.

"She's in there, sir, I'm certain of it." "Right."

The Doctor buys a newspaper.

"I got the flight a bit wrong" "we don't care." Nova and Rose say at the same time. "It's not 1860, it's 1869." "We don't care." Rose answers for both of them "And it's not Naples." "We don't care," Nova answers for both of them that time. "It's Cardiff." That stops Rose and Nova both in their tracks. "Right" Rose answers after a minute. While Nova just laughs. 

****

Mister Dickens is giving his reading from A Christmas Carol.

"Now, it is a fact that there was nothing particular at all about the knocker on the door of this house, but let any man explain to me if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without it's undergoing any intermediate process of change, not a knocker, but Marley's face. Marley's face! It looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look. It looked like"

The old woman begins to glow and give off a faint gas.

"Oh, my lord. It looked like that!" Dickens points and the audience turns to see. "What phantasmagoria is this?" The corpse rises and groans. The audience screams.

****

The Doctor, Rose, and Nova hear the screams. "That's more like it!" the Doctor tells them

****

A blue gas entity is coming from the corpse and flying around the auditorium. The audience flees. "Stay in your seats, I beg you. It is a lantern show. It's trickery." "Excuse me" "There she is, sir!" "I can see that. The whole blooming world can see that!"

The police are arriving outside, blowing his whistle.

"Fantastic." the Doctor tells Nova and Rose

The corpse collapses.

"Did you see where it came from?" "Ah, the wag reveals himself, does he? I trust you're satisfied, sir!" Sneed and Gwyneth pick up the corpse.

"Oi! Leave her alone! Doctor, Nova and I will get them" "Be careful! Did it say anything? Can it speak? I'm the Doctor, by the way." Rose and Nova run out "Doctor? You look more like a navvie" "What's wrong with this jumper"

****

"What're you doing?!" "Oh, it's a tragedy, miss. Don't worry yourself. Me and the master will deal with it. The fact is, this poor lady's been taken with the brain fever and we have to get her to the infirmary."Nova touches her "She's cold. She's dead! Oh, my God, what'd you do to her?"

Sneed sneaks up behind Rose and puts a pad of cloth over her mouth. She struggles briefly then passes out. Then he gets Nova who fights harder than Rose but passes out as well.

"What did you do that for?" "They've seen too much. Get them in the hearse. Legs"

****

The blue entity flies into a gaslight. "Gas! It's made of gas" exclaims the Doctor

****  
"Rose! Nova!" "You're not escaping me, sir. What do you know about that hobgoblin, hmm? Projection on glass, I suppose. Who put you up to it?" "Yeah, mate. Not now, thanks. Oi, you! Follow that hearse!" The Doctor gets into a nearby carriage. "I can't do that, sir." "Why not"

"I'll tell you why not. I'll give you a very good reason why not. Because this is my coach" "Well, get in, then. Move!"

****

The coach driver cracks the whip and the carriage moves down the street. "Come on, you're losing them." "Everything in order, Mister Dickens?" "No! It is not!" "What did he say?" "Let me say this first. I'm not without a sense of humor." "Dickens?" questions the Doctor "Yes" "Charles Dickens?" he asks again "Yes" "The Charles Dickens?" he asks once again "Should I remove the gentleman, sir?" the driver asks

"Charles Dickens? You're brilliant, you are. Completely one hundred percent brilliant. I've read them all. Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and what's the other one, the one with the ghost?" "A Christmas Carol" "No, no, no, the one with the trains. The Signal Man, that's it. Terrifying! The best short story ever written. You're a genius." "You want me to get rid of him, sir?" te driver asks again "Er, no, I think he can stay." "Honestly, Charles. Can I call you Charles? I'm such a big fan."

"A what? A big what?" Charles asks confused "Fan. Number one fan, that's me." "How exactly are you a fan? In what way do you resemble a means of keeping oneself cool?" "No, it means fanatic, devoted to. Mind you, I've got to say, that American bit in Martin Chuzzlewit, what's that about? Was that just padding or what? I mean, it's rubbish, that bit" "I thought you said you were my fan."

"Ah, well, if you can't take criticism. Go on, do the death of Little Nell, it cracks me up. No, sorry, forget about that. Come on, faster!" "Who exactly is in that hearse?" two of my friends. they're only 19 and 20. It's my fault. they're in my care, and now they're in danger." "Why are we wasting my time talking about dry old books? This is much more important. Driver, be swift! The chase is on!" "Yes, sir!" "Attaboy, Charlie." "Nobody calls me Charlie." "The ladies do." "How do you know that?" "I told you, I'm your number one" but he gets cut off "Number one fan"

****

"The poor girls are still alive, sir! What're we going to do with them?" "I don't know! I didn't plan any of this, did I. It isn't my fault if the dead won't stay dead" "Then whose fault is it, sir? Why is this happening to us?" Gwyneth and Sneed leave. The gaslamp flares and there are whispered voices.

####

"I did the Bishop a favor, once. Made his nephew look like a cherub even though he'd been a fortnight in the weir. Perhaps he'll do us an exorcism on the cheap. " Someone knocks on the door. "Say I'm not in. Tell them we're closed. Just, just get rid of them"

####

Sneed goes back down the corridor. Rose and Nova wake up as blue gas from the lamp animates young Mister Redpath, who had been placed in a coffin. 

Gwyneth opens the front door to Charles Dickens and the Doctor. "I'm sorry, sir. We're closed." "Nonsense. Since when did an Undertaker keep office hours? The dead don't die on schedule. I demand to see your master." "He's not in, sir." "Don't lie to me, child. Summon him at once." "I'm awfully sorry, Mister Dickens, but the master's indisposed."

A gas lamp flares.

"Having trouble with your gas?" "What in the Shakespeare is going on?"

****

Rose and Nova see their companion. Rose looks at him with wide eyes "Are you all right? You're kidding me, yeah? You're just kidding. You are kidding me, aren't you?" Nova shakes her head "I think this pretty serious" Redpath climbs out of the coffin and walks zombie-like towards them "Okay, not kidding." Rose and Nova run for the door

****

The Doctor goes past Gwyneth to the flaring gas lamp. "You're not allowed inside, sir." "There's something inside the walls." Mrs. Redpath reanimates in her coffin. "The gas pipes. Something's living inside the gas."

****

"Let me out!" Nova joins her calling out "Let us out!"

****

Rose and Nova can be heard calling out "Open the door!" and "let us out!" "That's them" "Please, please, let us out!"

****

The Doctor runs down the corridor and into Sneed. "How dare you, sir."he turns to Dickens. "This is my house!" "Shut up." Sneed turns to Gwyneth "I told you."

****

"Let us out! Somebody open the door! Open the door!" Redpath grabs Rose. The Doctor kicks the door in. "I think this is my dance" The Doctor pulls Rose away from Redpath as Nova bolts behind the Doctor away from the corpse that tried to kill her and Rose "It's a prank. It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence." "No, we're not. The dead are walking. Hi." Rose looks at him "Hi. Who's your friend?" "Charles Dickens" Nova looks at him "Wait as in The Charles Dickens?" "Yeah that's the one" Rose looks at him "Okay" Nova smiles and waves "Hi... big fan A Christmas Carol is my favorite Christmas story ever" 

"My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?" the Doctor asks Redpath replies with several voices. "Failing. Open the rift. We're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us. Argh!" The gas leaves Redpath and his mother and returns to the gas lamp. The corpses collapse.

****

Gwyneth pours tea. "First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man." Rose snaps "I won't be spoken to like this!" "Then you stuck me and Nova in a room full of zombies! And if that ain't enough, you swan off and leave us to die! So come on, talk!" "It's not my fault. It's this house. It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back, and then the stiffs, the er, dearly departed started getting restless."

"Tommyrot." "You witnessed it. Can't keep the beggars down, sir. They walk. And it's the queerest thing, but they hang on to scraps" 

Gwyneth places the Doctor's cup on the mantelpiece beside him. "Two sugars, sir, just how you like it." "One old fellow who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service. Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir, just as she planned." "Morbid fancy." "Oh, Charles, you were there." "I saw nothing but an illusion." "If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time. Just shut up. What about the gas?" "That's new, sir. Never seen anything like that." "Means it's getting stronger, the rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through."

"What's the rift?" questions Rose "hey I was about to ask that" Nova pouts to Ros who rolls her eyes.

"A weak point in time and space. A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time." "That's how I got the house so cheap. Stories going back generations." Dickens slams the door as he leaves. "Echoes in the dark, queer songs in the air, and this feeling like a shadow passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business. Just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine"

****

Dickens stops by a gas lamp and tries to listen to the whispers. "Impossible."

****

Dickens takes the lid off Redpath's coffin and waves his hand in front of the dead man's face. The Doctor watches from the doorway as Dickens searches the coffin. "Checking for strings?" the Doctor asks him "Wires, perhaps. There must be some mechanism behind this fraud." "Oh, come on, Charles. All right. I shouldn't have told you to shut up. I'm sorry. But you've got one of the best minds in the world. You saw those gas creatures."

"I cannot accept that." "And what does the human body do when it decomposes? It breaks down and produces gas. Perfect home for these gas things. They can slip inside and use it as a vehicle, just like your driver and his coach." "Stop it. Can it be that I have the world entirely wrong?" "Not wrong. There's just more to learn." "I've always railed against the fantasists. Oh, I loved an illusion as much as the next man, reveled in them, but that's exactly what they were illusions. The real world is something else. I dedicated myself to that. Injustices, the great social causes. I hoped that I was a force for good. Now you tell me that the real world is a realm of spectres and jack-o'-lanterns. In which case, have I wasted my brief span here, Doctor? Has it all been for nothing?"

****

Gwyneth lights the gaslamp. Rose starts the washing up. "Please, miss, you shouldn't be helping. It's not right." "Don't be daft. Sneed works you to death. How much do you get paid?"

"Eight pound a year, miss." Nova looks at her with a surprised look as Rose says " How much?" "I know. I would've been happy with six." "So, did you go to school or what?" "Of course I did. What do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper."

"What?"Nova asked as Rose asked, "once a week?" "We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second." "Me too." Nova nods "Who doesn't?" "Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own." Nova and I did plenty of that. we used to go down the shops with my mate Shareen. We used to go and look at boys." "Well, I don't know much about that, miss." Nova gives her a look "Come on, times haven't changed that much. I bet you've done the same." "I don't think so, miss." "Gwyneth, you can tell us. I bet you've got your eye on someone." Rose tells her. "I suppose. There is one lad. The butcher's boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him." "I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum." Nova smirks "Who doesn't?" "Well, I have never heard the like"

"Ask him out. Give him a cup of tea or something, that's a start." "I swear it is the strangest thing, miss. You've got all the clothes and the breeding, but you talk like some sort of wild thing" "Maybe we are. Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mister Sneed." "Oh, now that's not fair. He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve." "Oh, I'm sorry." "Thank you, miss. But I'll be with them again, one day, sitting with them in paradise. I shall be so blessed. They're waiting for me. Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, miss." Rose looks at her in shock "Maybe. Er, who told you he was dead" "I don't know. Must have been the Doctor." Nova narrows her eyes at the girl because Rose never mentioned that to the Doctor.

"My father died years back." Rose tells her "But you've been thinking about him lately more than ever." "I suppose so. How do you know all this?" "Mister Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you, miss?" "No, no servants where we're from." "And you've come such a long way." "What makes you think so?" "You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about half-naked, for shame. And the noise, and the metal boxes racing past, and the birds in the sky, no, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying. And you, you've flown so far. Further than anyone. The things you've seen. The darkness, the big bad wolf. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, miss"

"It's all right." Rose tells her while Nova is still looking at her with a weary expression "I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mum said I had the sight. She told me to hide it." The Doctor comes in "But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?" "All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head." "You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key." "I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts" "Well, that should help. You can show us what to do." "What to do where, sir?" "We're going to have a seance."

****

Everyone is gathered around a table.

"This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in big town. Come, we must all join hands." "I can't take part in this." "Humbug? Come on, open mind" "This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Seances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeezebox concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing." "Now, don't antagonise her. I love a happy medium."

Nova and Rose share a look before Rose says "I can't believe you just said that." "Come on, we might need you." Dickens sits down between Rose and Gwyneth. "Good, man. Now, Gwyneth, reach out." "Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden."

The whispering starts.

Rose looks at Nova and the Doctor "Can you hear that?" "Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly."Rose looks at him "Look at her." "I see them. I feel them." Gas tendrils drift above their heads. "What's it saying?" "They can't get through the rift. Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now, look deep. Allow them through." "I can't!" "Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link." "Yes."

Blue outlines of people appear behind Gwyneth. "Great God! Spirits from the other side." "The other side of the universe." The Doctor corrects. The figures speak with two children's voices, and Gwyneth speaks with them.

"Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time. Help us." "What do you want us to do?" "The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge." "What for?" "We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction." "Why, what happened?" "Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came." "War? What war?" "The Time War. The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state." "So that's why you need the corpses." 

Nova once again feels a pang of sadness at the mention of The Time War. 

"We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us" "But we can't." Rose argues "Why not?" "It's not. I mean, it's not" "Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives." Nova looks at Rose he has a point it could save their lives but Rose has a point to it's not moral using somebody's corpse" "Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth."

The Gelth go back into the gas lamps and Gwyneth collapses across the table. "Gwyneth?" Rose questions "All true." "Are you okay?" Nova asks "It's all true."

A little later, Gwyneth has been laid on the chaise longue. Rose is talking to her "It's all right. You just sleep." "But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me?" "They do need you, Gwyneth. You're they're only chance of survival." The Doctor tells her "I've told you, leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles. Drink this."

"Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?" "Aliens." "Like foreigners, you mean?" Sneed questions "Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there." he points up "Brecon?" "Close. And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes" "Which is why they need the girl."

"They're not having her." Rose argues "But she can help. Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through." "Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world, who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers.

"Good system. It might work." "You can't let them run around inside of dead people."

"Why not? It's like recycling." "Seriously though, you can't" "Seriously though, I can." "It's just wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them even in death" "Do you carry a donor card?" "That's different. That's" "It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home. You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying." "I don't care. They're not using her." Nova intervenes "Okay you both have very good points but shouldn't we leave that up to Gwyneth?"

"Thank you miss like she said Don't I get a say, miss?" "Look, you don't understand what's going on." "You would say that, miss, because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid". "That's not fair." "It's true, though. Things might be very different where you're from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me. Doctor, what do I have to do?" "You don't have to do anything" "They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me." "We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mister Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?" "That would be the morgue." "No chance you were going to say gazebo, is there?" Rose says in a semi joking voice. 

****

A cold basement where the recently departed lie under white sheets.

"Urgh. Talk about Bleak House". "The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed, 'cos I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869." Rose tells the Doctor "Time's in flux, changing every second. Your cozy little world can be rewritten like that. Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing." "Doctor, I think the room is getting colder." "Here they come," Nova informs the others

A Gelth comes out of a gas lamp by the door and stands under a stone archway. "You've come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him." "Promise you won't hurt her." "Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth." "I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?" "My angels. I can help them live"

"Okay, where's the weak point?" "Here, beneath the arch." "Beneath the arch."

Gwyneth stands under the arch, inside the Gelth.

"You don't have to do this." Rose tells her "My angels." "Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through!" "Yes, I can see you. I can see you. Come!" "Bridgehead establishing." "Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls! " "It is begun. The bridge is made."

Gwyneth opens her mouth, and blue gas comes out.

"She has given herself to the Gelth. The bridge is open. We descend." The sweet blue apparition turns flame red with sharp teeth. It's voice deepens and hardens. "The Gelth will come through in force." "You said that you were few in number." "A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses."

The dead get up.

Sneed calls out "Gwyneth, stop this. Listen to your master. This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, and leave these things alone, I beg of you" "Mister Sneed, get back!" Nova and Rose warn but it's too late a corpse grabs Sneed and snaps his neck. A Gelth zooms into his mouth.

"I think it's gone a little bit wrong." the Doctor tells them Nova gives him a look "You Think?" "I have joined the legions of the Gelth. Come, march with us" "No." "We need bodies. All of you. Dead. The human race. Dead." "Gwyneth, stop them! Send them back now!" The Doctor tries to get through to her but it doesn't seem to work "Three more bodies. Convert them. Make them vessels for the Gelth."

Dead Sneed backs Rose, Nova the Doctor up against a metal gate "Doctor, I can't. I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me. I'm sorry" then he runs out

The Doctor, Nova, and Rose hide behind the metal gate, where the corpses cannot reach them. "Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth." "I trusted you. I pitied you!" "We don't want your pity. We want this world and all its flesh." "Not while I'm alive." "Then live no more."

Dickens runs out of the house, but blue gas seeps out round the door. He runs down the street, chased by a Gelth Rose looks at the Doctor But we can't die. Tell me we can't. We haven't even been born yet. It's impossible for us to die. Isn't it?" The Doctor gives them a sad smile "I'm sorry."

****

"Failing! Atmosphere hostile!" The Gelth dives into the streetlamp. "Gas. The gas!" Dickens exclaims

****

"But it's 1869. How can Nova and I die now?" "Time isn't a straight line. It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the twentieth century and die in the nineteenth and it's all my fault. I brought you here" "It's not your fault. we wanted to come" "What about me? I saw the fall of Troy, World War Five. I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party. Now I'm going to die in a dungeon in _Cardiff_." Nova looks at him"It's not just dying. We'll become one of them."

Dickens runs back into Sneed's house and turns the gas lamps off then on again. He holds a handkerchief to his mouth to try and stop himself choking on the unlit town gas as he goes.

"We'll go down fighting, yeah?" "Yeah." "You got that right" "Together?" "Yeah." "wouldn't have it any other way" 

The three of them hold hands. "I'm so glad I met you both" "Me too." "So am I" Nova answers last.

Dickens runs in. "Doctor! Doctor! Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now, fill the room, all of it, now! " "What're you doing?" "Turn it all on. Flood the place!" "Brilliant. Gas." "What, so we choke to death instead?" Rose questions "Am I correct, Doctor? These creatures are gaseous.

"Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!" The corpses leave and the Doctor, Nova, and Rose, and start shambling towards Dickens. "I hope, oh Lord, I hope that this theory will be validated soon, if not immediately." "Plenty more!" The Doctor rips a gas pipe from the wall. The Gelths leave the corpses.

"It's working." The Doctor, Nova, and Rose come out of the alcove. "Gwyneth, send them back. They lied. They're not angels." the Doctor tells her. "Liars?" she asks "Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!" "I can't breathe." Rose states as Nova start coughing "Charles, get them out." "I'm not leaving her." and Nova breaths out "and I'm not leaving Rose" "They're too strong."

"Remember that world you saw? Rose and Nova's world? All those people. None of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift." "I can't send them back. But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out."

Gwyneth takes a box of matches from her apron pocket. "You can't!" Rose tells her "Leave this place!" "Rose, Nova get out. Go now. I won't leave her while she's still in danger. Now go!" Rose, Nova, and Dickens leave.

"Come on, leave give that to me."

****

"This way!" Dickens directs the two girls

****

Gwyneth doesn't move. The Doctor feels for a pulse in her neck. "I'm sorry."

He kisses her forehead.

"Thank you."

The Doctor runs out. Gwyneth opens the box and takes out a match. The Gelth swirl around her as the Doctor runs through the house.

****

The Doctor runs out and KaBOOM! The Doctor goes flying across the street.

"She didn't make it." Rose says sadly "I'm sorry. She closed the rift." "At such a cost. The poor child." "I did try, Rose, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes."

Nova looks at him "What do you mean?" "I think she was dead from the minute she stood in that arch." "But she can't have. She spoke to us. She helped us. She saved us. How could she have done that?" "There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor" "She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know"

****

"Right then, Charlie boy, I've just got to go into my, er, shed. Won't be long." "What are you going to do now?" "I shall take the mail coach back to London, quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all, I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital." "You've cheered up." "Exceedingly! This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world. Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor. I'm inspired. I must write about them." "Do you think that's wise?"

"I shall be subtle at first. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word, tell the truth." "Good luck with it. Nice to meet you. Fantastic" "Bye, then, and thanks." Nova waves at him "Bye it was nice meeting you like I said big fan" Rose shakes Dickens' hand then kisses his cheek.

Dickens looks at them "Oh, my dear. How modern. Thank you, but, I don't understand. In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?" "You'll see. In the shed." "Upon my soul, Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this. Who are you?" "Just a friend passing through" "But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books. Doctor, do they last?" "Oh, yes!" "For how long?" "Forever. Right. Shed. Come on, Rose, Nova"

Dickens stares at them questioningly "In the box? All three of you? "Down boy. See you."

****

"Doesn't that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?" Nova shakes her head "Nope In a week's time it's 1870, and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story." "Oh, no. He was so nice." "But in your time, he was already dead. We've brought him back to life, and he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy. Let's give him one last surprise."

****

The Tardis dematerializes in front of Charles Dickens' astonished eyes. He laughs and walks away. Somewhere a choir sings Hark the Herald Angels.

"Merry Christmas, sir." "Merry Christmas to you. God bless us, everyone!" Dickens says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here was 'The Unquiet Dead' hope you guys like it and I have now decided that Nova gets her memory and everything back in 'Dalek' so only three more chapters until that happens. this is chapter 3 and that will be happening in chapter 6.


	6. Aliens of London

The Tardis materializes. Rose, Nova and the Doctor get out. "How long have we been gone?" Rose asks the Doctor "About twelve hours." "Oh. Right, we won't be long. I just want to see my mum." "What're you going to tell her?" he questions Rose shrugs "I don't know. we've been to the year 5 billion and only been gone, what, twelve hours? No, I'll just tell her we spent the night at Shareen's. See you later. Oh, don't you disappear."

While Rose and Nova run up the stairs to the flat, the Doctor spots an old poster half stuck to a concrete pillar. Police Appeal for Assistance. Can You Help?

****

Rose and Nova walk in the door and Rose calls out "we're back! We were with Shareen. She was all upset again. Are you in? So, what's been going on? How've you been? What? What's that face for? It's not the first time we've stayed out all night"

Jackie drops her mug of tea. It smashes on the floor. The Doctor finishes reading the poster and runs to the flat. The poster says - Rose Tyler and Nova Smith have been missing from their home on the Powell Estate since 6th March 2005.

Jackie looks at the two of them wide-eyed "It's you. Both of you" Rose gives her mum a look "Of course it's me." while Nova leans over to Rose "Something tells me we've been gone for more than 12 hours" "Oh, my God. It's you. Oh my God" Jackie hugs Rose then hugs Nova as Rose spots several different types of missing person posters on the table. The Doctor runs in.

"It's not twelve hours, it's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year. Sorry." Nova gives Rose a smug look that says told you. Rose rolls her eyes at Nova's smugness. Already knowing that the ginger girl loves it when she's right about things. Neither of them knowing why but that it's just a part of who she is.

Outside, a young boy has spray-painted Bad Wolf on the side of the Tardis. Inside, astonishment has given way to fury, and a policeman has been called.

"The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own. I thought both of you were dead, and where were you? Traveling. What the hell does that mean, traveling? That's no sort of answer. You ask her. Ask them both. They won't tell me. That's all they say. Traveling" "That's what we've been doing." Rose defends Nova gives Jackie a look "Come on Jacks that what we were doing we were traveling" Jackie gives them both a look "When your passports are still in the drawer? It's just one lie after another."

Nova gives Jackie a sheepish smile "We meant to phone, really we did but with the excitement we just forgot, I'm sorry Jacks" "What, for a year? You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here. I just don't believe you. Why won't either of you tell me where you've been?" "Actually, it's my fault. I sort of er, employed Rose and Nova as my companions." the Doctor tries to make the situation better. "When you say companions, is this a sexual relationship?" The policeman asks

"No!" Rose, Nova and the Doctor all say at the same time. Thinking about it just sends a shiver of disgust down Nova's spine she doesn't know why but she just feels it's wrong so very wrong to even think about her and the Doctor like that.

"Then what is it? Because of you, you waltz in here all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, they both vanished off the face of the Earth! How old are you then? Forty? Forty-five? What, did you find them on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?" Jackie says looking at the Doctor "I am a Doctor." he defends himself

"Prove it. Stitch this, mate!" Jackie hits the Doctor, hard. Later, in the kitchen, mother and daughter and Nova are reconciled.

"Did either of you think about me at all? "I did. All the time, but" Nova nod "yeah me too" "One phone call. Just to know that both of you were alive. "I'm sorry. I really am." "Do you know, what terrifies me is that you still can't say. What happened to you, Rose? Nova? What can be so bad that you can't tell me, sweethearts? Where were you?"

****

Up on the roof of the block.

Rose looks at Nova and the Doctor "we can't tell her. I can't even begin. She's never going to forgive me. And I missed a year. Was it good?" "Middling." Nova shrugs "How would I know I was with you?" Rose rolls her eyes "You're so useless both of you" "Well if it's this much trouble, are you going to stay here now?" 

Nova looks at Rose "As much as I love Jacks and I do but I can't just walk away from this... I don't know how to explain it but that it feels like home being out among the stars and I feel more at home than I ever have anywhere" The Doctor gives her a calculating look as Rose gives her an understanding smile "I don't know. I can't do that to her again, though." "Well, she's not coming with us." the Doctor tells her "No chance." Nova and Rose agree.

"I don't do families" Rose laughs "She slapped you!" "Oh my god, I wasn't expecting that" Nova says through her laughter "Nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother."

"Your face." "That was hilarious" Rose and Nova says at the same time "It hurt!" "You're so gay. When you say nine hundred years?" Rose questions "That's my age." "You're nine hundred years old.?" "Yeah." Rose looks at him sort of stunned while Nova just shrugs "My mum was right. That is one hell of an age gap. Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and I can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and Nova and I are the only people on planet Earth who knows they exist."

There is a deep horn and a spaceship, trailing black smoke passes overhead and heads for the city. It misses Tower Bridge, weaves around St Paul's, then with a nasty backfire and a splutter, dives for the Thames, taking out the Clock Tower. Big Ben chimes once and the spaceship crashes into the river. The Doctor, Nova, and Rose watch a plume of black smoke rise into the air on the horizon.

Rose and Nova share a look as Rose says "Oh, that's just not fair" Nova laughs "Oh Rose look at that you've just Jinxed it" Rose shoves her playfully "Oh you shush"

####

Naturally, the army has closed the roads, much to the annoyance of car drivers. A man says "Just my luck." as a soldier tells them "Get back. Get back."

The doctor looks at Rose and Nova "It's blocked off." "We're miles from the center. The city must be gridlocked. The whole of London must be closing down." "I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!" Nova looks at him "Did you know this was going to happen?" "Nope" "Do you recognize the ship?" asked Rose "Nope." Then Nova asked "Do you know why it crashed?" her and Rose taking turns asking questions "Nope." "Oh, I'm so glad we've got you" The Doctor smirks at them "I bet you are. This is what I travel for, Nova, Rose. To see history happening right in front of us"

"Well, let's go and see it. Never mind the traffic, we've got the Tardis" Nova looks at Rose "That is probably not the best idea" "Better not. They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London. I don't want to shove another one on top" "Yeah, but yours looks like a big blue box. No one's going to notice."

"You'd be surprised. An emergency like this, there'll be all kinds of people watching. Trust me. The Tardis stays where it is." Rose sighs "So history's happening and we're stuck here." "Yes, we are."

"It's got to be Ken Livingstone, hasn't it," some random man says "We could always do what everybody else does. We could watch it on TV." Rose suggests

####

News 24 is on the scene. "Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London. Police reinforcements are drafted in from across the country to control widespread panic, looting, and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hitchinson is at the scene."

Hitchenson speaks on tv "The police are urging the public not to panic. There's a helpline number on the screen right now if you're worried about friends or family."

US news channel AMNN.

A woman on tv speaks "The military are on the lookout for more spaceships. Until then, all flights in North American air space have been grounded."

Back to News 24. Hitchenson is speaking again "The army are sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship. No one knows what they're going to find."

AMNN

The woman on tv speaks again "The President will address the nation live from the White House, but the Secretary-General has asked that people watch the skies."

Jackie brings in a mug for Rose, Nova and her friend Ru Chan, but not the Doctor.

Jackie is talking to her friend "I've got no choice." Ru looks at Rose "You've broken your mother's heart." she scolds "I'm not going to make him welcome." "I cradled her like a child." "Oi, I'm trying to listen." the Doctor tells them.

Cut to outside 10 Downing Street.

A reporter is talking "His current whereabouts. News is just coming in. We can go to Tom at the Embankment."

Hitchenson is back on tv "They've found a body. It's unconfirmed"

****

"But I'm being told a body has been found in the wreckage. A body of non-terrestrial origins. It's being brought ashore" Hitchenson announces

****

The gathering is turning into a welcome home party for Rose and Nova, with wine being served. Hitchenson is still on tv "A body of some sort has been found inside the wreckage of the spacecraft."

"Oh, guess who asked me out. Billy Crewe."

Nova is trying to pay attention to what Hitchenson is saying on tv of Jackie gossiping about who asked her out "Brought to the nearest shore. Unconfirmed reports say that the body is of extra-terrestrial origin. An extraordinary event unfolding here live here in Central London. The body is being transferred to a secure unit mortuary, the whereabouts are yet unknown. The roads in Central London are being"

The channel changes to Blue Peter. Matt Baker on tv says "And when you've stuck your fins on, you can cover the whole lot in buttercream."

A toddler is on the Doctor's lap, wrestling for the remote.

"Oh, look at that. Then ice it any color you want. Here's one I made a little bit earlier. And look at that, your very own spaceship ready to eat. And for something a little extra special" Nova smirks and picks the toddler up and sits him down on the floor and flips the channel back

News 24 returns.

"Albion Hospital. We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything" Hitchenson announces.

****

"But the body has been brought here, Albion Hospital. The road's closed off. It's the closest to the river"

****

"Go on." the Doctor urges the tv "I'm being told that General Asquith is now entering the hospital. The building's been evacuated. The patients have been moved out onto the Streets. The police still won't confirm the presence of an alien body contained inside those walls" Hitchenson says

****

The General marches along the corridor with an escort, and into the room where a dainty oriental physician is in attendance of a large lump under a white sheet.

"Let's have a look, then" She pulls back the sheet. "Good God. And that's real? It's not a hoax or a dummy, or a" Sato cuts the Genera off "I've x-rayed the skull. It's wired up inside like nothing I've ever seen before. No one could make this up." "We've got experts being flown in. Until they arrive, get that out of sight."

The body is placed into Body Cold Chamber number 5.

****

"Excuse me, sir? I know it's a state of emergency and there's a lot of rumors flying around, but is it true what they're saying about the Prime Minister?" Sato asks the General

****

Reporting from outside Number 10.

"Mystery still surrounds there whereabouts of the Prime Minister. He's not been seen since the emergency began. The opposition is criticizing his lack of leadership, and. Hold on."

An official car pulls up and a portly man gets out.

"Oh, that's Joseph Green, MP for Hartley Dale. He's Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission"

****

"On the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionary. With respect, hardly the most important person right now"

*****

"Indra Ganesh, sir. Junior secretary with the MOD. I'll be your liaison." "Where the hell is he?" Green demands "If we could talk in private, sir. Follow me upstairs."

"Excuse me! Harriet Jones. MP for Flydale North." "I'm sorry, can it wait?" "But I did have an appointment at 3:15" "Yes, and a spaceship crashed in the middle of London. I think the schedule might have changed." The men head up the stairs.

****

"You've heard about the alien body, sir?" "Never mind that, where is he? Where's the Prime Minister?" "No one knows, sir. He's disappeared. I have to inform you that with the city gridlocked and the Cabinet stranded outside London, that makes you acting Prime Minister with immediate effect." "Oh, Lord. Oh, hold on" fart "Pardon me. It's just a nervous stomach. Anyway."

****

A well-built man and woman are here "Margaret Blaine. She's with MI5." "There's no more information, sir. I personally escorted the Prime Minister from the cabinet room to his car. This is Oliver Charles, transport liaison." "The car's disappeared. There's no record of it, sir. It literally vanished." "Right. Inside. Tell me everything." "Er, sir?"

Ganesh holds out a Ministerial Red Box.

"The emergency protocols. Detailing the actions to be taken by the government of Great Britain in the event of an alien incursion." "Right, Good." fart! "Blimey. Pardon me." Green takes the Red Box "Let's work, eh?" Green follows Margaret and Charles into the Cabinet Room and puts the box down on the table. They all start laughing.

****

Nova and Rose followed the Doctor outside "And where do you think you're going?" Rose questions "Nowhere. It's just a bit human in there for me. History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top-up cards for half price. I'm off on a wander, that's all."Nova gives him a look "Right. There's a spaceship on the Thames and you're just wandering." "Nothing to do with me. It's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. The angle of descent, the color of smoke, everything. It's perfect."

Rose looks at him "So?" "So maybe this is it. First contact. The day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race. I'm not interfering because you've got to handle this on your own. That's when the human race finally grows up. Just this morning you were all tiny and small and made of clay. Now you can expand."

David Bowie is singing Starman in the background.

"You don't need me. Go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your mum." "Promise you won't disappear on us?" "Tell you what. Tardis key. It's about time you had one. See you later" he hands Rose a key to the Tardis. Nova looks at it thinking hey that looks something like the ey I wear around my neck... there is no way that I have a Tardis key.

****

"Oi, gorgeous! Come back and join the party!" a woman calls out. Mickey has gone out onto his balcony to check on the state of his trainers and sees the Doctor walking back to the Tardis. "Oh my God!" Mickey exclaims and runs out of his flat as the Doctor goes inside the Tardis. It dematerializes. "Wait, Doctor! Doctor!" Mickey crashes full pelt into the corrugated iron shutters of the empty shop behind where the Tardis was parked. He tries to walk away nonchalantly.

The Tardis is not happy in flight. The Doctor resorts to a large hammer to sort things out.

****

The MP for Flydale North brings the Junior Secretary a cup. "I bet no one's bought you a coffee." "Thank you." "Pleasure." "You still can't go in." he still denies "Damn. You've seen through my cunning plan" "Look, I'm sorry. It's just impossible." "Not even for two minutes? I don't get many chances to walk these corridors. I'm hardly one of the Babes, just a faithful backbencher. And I know we've had a brave new world land right on our doorstep, and that's wonderful. I think that's probably wonderful. Nevertheless, ordinary life keeps ticking away. I need to enter this paper." she persists.

The trio leaves the Cabinet Room. "Oh, Mister Green, sir. I know you're busy, but could you put this on the next Cabinet agenda?" "What is it?" Green asks "Cottage hospitals. I've worked out a system whereby cottage hospitals do not have to be excluded from centers of excellence. You see, my mother's in the Flydale infirmary. That's my constituency. A tiny little place, you wouldn't know it, but it's given me a chance to" "By all the saints, get some perspective, woman! I'm busy"

Ganesh grabs his jacket and follows the trio out. Harriet goes into the Cabinet Room and closes the door. She puts her proposal in the Red Box then notices the Emergency Protocols file inside it. She sits down and starts reading.

****

Doctor Sato is looking over her notes when she hears a thumping noise coming from Body Cold Chamber number 5. The Tardis, meanwhile, has parked herself in a storeroom. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on the door lock. "Shush!" Toshiko moves towards the chamber, and the thumping turns into a knocking.

****

The Doctor walks into a room full of Red Berets - the Parachute Regiment. They stare at each other in silence for a moment, then the soldiers grab their weapons and point them at the Doctor. Something bursts out of the cooler, and Toshiko screams. Everyone hears it. "Defense plan delta! Come on. Move! Move!" the Doctor leads the Marines out of the room at the double.

****

Toshiko is cowering by her desk. She has a cut on her head. "It's alive!" "Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lockdown." the Doctor tells them "My god. It's still alive." "Do it" he demands.

"Mick, Terry, side rooms. Now!" one soldier says "Clear!" another soldier announces "Front clear!" the third soldier says "Keep it moving!" the first soldier tells them and the fourth soldier says "Clear"

"I swear it was dead." Sato tells the Doctor "Coma, shock, hibernation, anything. What does it look like?"

Metal clattering.

"It's still here." The Doctor gestures to a soldier outside the door to come in and kneel by Toshiko. Behind a filing cabinet is - a pig? "Hello." The pig runs out on its hind legs. It is wearing a spacesuit. "Don't shoot" the Doctor tells them

Another soldier shoots the pig. "What did you do that for? It was scared! It was scared" the Doctor asked him

****  
"I've got the White House phoning me directly because Downing Street won't answer their calls. This is outrageous! We haven't even started the vaccination program. This is appalling. The nations of the world are watching the United Kingdom"

Harriet packs away the documents and runs to the door to see the General berating the Trio in the outer office. She looks for somewhere to hide.

"Well, it has all been a bit of a shock." "This is the greatest crisis in modern history and you've done nothing. Your behavior has been shameful, sir. You're supposed to be in charge. We need positive leadership. The capital's ground to a halt."

Harriet disappears into a cupboard just as they enter.

"Furthermore, we can only assume that the Prime Minister's disappearance is the direct result of hostile alien action, and what have you been doing? Nothing." "Sorry. Sorry. I thought I was Prime Minister now." "Only by default." "Oh, that's not fair. I've been having such fun" "You think this is fun?" "It's a hoot, this job." "Honestly, it's super. " Margret says

Fart! "Oh, excuse me." Fart! "Oh!" The trio laughs, and fart almost continuously from now on. Very juvenile.

"What's going on here? Where's the rest of the cabinet? Why haven't they been airlifted in?" "I canceled it. They'd only get in the way. Oh, there I go." "Oh, and me! I'm shaking my booty." "Sir! Under Section Five of the emergency protocols, it is my duty to relieve you of command, And by God, I'll put this country under martial law if I have to." "Oh, I'm scared. I mean, that's hair-raising. I mean, literally. Look!"

Green unzips his forehead, and a blue light pours out. Margaret and Charles do the same. Harriet watches, horrified, as we hear blubbery, squelching noises. There is a whumph! and General Asquith screams.

****

"I just assumed that's what aliens look like, but you're saying it's an ordinary pig from Earth." "More like a mermaid. Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat, gluing it to a fish, and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened up its brain, stuck bits on, then they've strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke"

"So it's a fake, a pretend, like the mermaid. But the technology augmenting its brain, it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien. Aliens are faking aliens. But why would they do that? Doctor?"

He's gone

****

"Doctor?" Sato calls out

The Tardis dematerializes.

****

"Here's to the Martians!" Jackie makes a toast "The Martians!" everybody except Rose and Nova says and Mickey enters.

"Crisis, with no head of state. Since the Royal Family have been evacuated" Rose looks at Mickey "I was going to come and see you." "Someone owes Mickey an apology." "I'm sorry." Rose apologizes "Not you" "Well, it's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think?"Jackie defends

"Designate, though she insists this was a matter for the electorate" the tv states

****

Rose and Mickey are in the kitchen talking With Nova and Jackie on the other side of the serving hatch "You disappear, who do they turn to? Your boyfriend. Five times I was taken in for questioning. Five times. No evidence. Course, there couldn't be, could there? And then I get her, your mother, whispering around the estate, pointing the finger. Stuff through my letterbox, and all 'cos of you." " I didn't think I'd be gone so long." "And I waited for you, Rose. Twelve months, waiting for you and the Doctor to come back." "Hold on. You knew about the Doctor? Why didn't you tell me?" Jackie interrupts but Mickey shuts the serving hatch and the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh? How could I tell her where you went?" "Tell me now," Jackie says having reopened the serving hatch. "I might as well, 'cos you're stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now. That box thing just faded away." "What do you mean?" "He's left you. Some boyfriend he turned out to be." Nova rolls her eyes at Mickey being jealous. Rose runs out of the flat. Mickey and Nova follow her.

****

"He wouldn't just go, he promised us" Rose argues "Oh, he's dumped you, Rose. Sailed off into space. How does it feel, huh? Now you both are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it." "He would have said." Jackie followed them outside as well "What're you two chimps going on about? What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?" asking Rose and Mickey because I am staying out of their little lover's quarrel.

"Ho, ho, ho. He's vamoosed." "He's not, because he gave me this. He's not my boyfriend, Mickey. He's better than that. He's much more important than" Rose gets interrupted by The Tardis key glowing and the Tardis starts to materialize.

"I said so. Mum! Mum, go inside. Mum, don't stand there, just go inside. Just, Mum, go. Oh, blimey." I look at Jackie "Jacks just go back into the flat" but she just stands there

The Tardis materializes

Mickey looks confused "Huh?" Jacks asks "How'd you do that, then?"

****

"Alright, so I lied. I went and had a look. But the whole crash landing is a fake. I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben. Come on, so I thought let's go and have a look" "My mum's here." Rose tells him "Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic." Nova laughs "that is far from making this domestic" "You ruined my life, Doctor. They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you." Mickey complains "You see what I mean? Domestic." the Doctor whines.

"I bet you don't even remember my name." "Ricky." "It's Mickey." "No, it's Ricky." "I think I know my own name." "You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?" Nova laughs again looking at Mickey "You kind of brought that on yourself there" Rose looks at Jackie "Mum, don't! Don't go anywhere. Don't start a fight!"

****  
  
Rose follows Jackie out of the Tardis. "Mum, it's not like that. He's not. I'll be up in a minute. Hold on!"

****

Nova looks at the Doctor "That was a real spaceship." "Yep." "So it's all a pack of lies? What is it, then? Are they invading?" "Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." "Good point! So, what're they up to?"

****

"As the crisis continues and the government shows a remarkable lack of leadership, paranoia sweeps the country. There've been at least three reports of public assaults on people falsely identified as aliens. Now back to Tom Hitchinson."

Hitchenson is back on tv "Are there more ships to come? And what is their intention? The authorities are now asking if anyone knows anything. If any previous sighting has been made, then call this number. We need your help."

Jackie dials 08081 570980. It is 23:08. She gets a busy tone twice.

"Tonight, the London Institute of Psychology is warning that incidents of violence" "Yes, I've seen one. I really have. An alien. And she's with him. My daughter and her friend, they're with him. And they're not safe. Oh, my God. they're not safe. I've seen an alien, and I know his name. He's called the Doctor."

Someone or something types The Doctor into a database search. "It's a box. A blue box. She called it a Tardis."

Over in Downing Street, an alarm goes off. Ganesh's computer screen is flashing Red Alert - The Doctor.

****

"So, what're you doing down there?" Mickey asks "Ricky" "Mickey." He corrects "Ricky. If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?" Mickey pauses for a moment "I suppose not." "Well, shut it, then." "Some friend you've got." Mickey tells Rose and Nova who laughs as Rose says "He's winding you up. I am sorry."

Nova decides to give the couple some alone time a joins the Doctor who is still tinkering with wires of the Tardis.

"Okay." Mickey tells her "I am, though." "Every day, I looked. On every street corner, wherever I went, looking for a blue box for a whole year." "It's only been a few days for me. I don't know. It's, it's hard to tell inside this thing but I swear it's just a few days since I left you." "Not enough time to miss me, then?" "I did miss you." Rose tells him "I missed you" "So, er, in twelve months, have you been seeing anyone else?" Rose asks kind of awkwardly "No." "Okay" "Mainly because everyone thinks I murdered you and Nova" "Right."

Mickey looks at her hopefully "So, now that you've come back, are you going to stay?"

The Doctor interrupts "Got it! Ha, ha! Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship. Here we go. Hold on. Come on."

The Doctor looks at the trajectory on the monitor.

"That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see? Except. Hold on. See? The spaceship did a slingshot round the Earth before it landed." Nova looks at him "What does that mean?" "It means it came from Earth in the first place. It went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived, they've been here for a while. The question is, what have they been doing?"

****

A floppy dummy of Oliver Charles is thrown over the back of a chair, and General Asquith stands up.

"What do you think? How's the compression? I think I've got too much ballast round the middle" (Fart!) "Oh, that's better." "We've really got to fix the gas exchange. It's getting ridiculous." Margaret tells him. Green answers "I don't know. Seems very human to me. Ah, better get rid of his skin." "Shame. I quite enjoyed being Oliver. He had a wife, a mistress, and a young farmer."

He throws the skin and suit into Harriet's cupboard. "God, I was busy." "Back to work." Green tells them "I have an army to command." "Careful, now. We're not there yet" Margaret warns.

****

"General Asquith! Sir, we've had a priority alarm. It's code nine. Confirmed code nine." "Right. Good"

****

Harriet comes out of the cupboard to listen. "Code nine, huh?" The General asks

****

"Which would mean?" "In the event of the emergency protocols being activated, we've got software that automatically searches all communications for keywords, and one of those words is Doctor. I think we've found him, sir." "What sort of doctor? Who is he?" Margaret asks "Well, evidently he's some sort of expert in extraterrestrial affairs. The ultimate expert. And we need him, sir. We need him here right now!"

####

Mickey and Rose are channel hopping on the TARDIS scanner. "How many channels do you get?" Mickey asks the Doctor "All the basic packages." "You get sports channels?" "Yes, I get the football. Hold on, I know that lot."

They stop on the channel as a woman says "It is looking likely that the Government's bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space." "UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people." the Doctor says "How do you know them?" Rose asks "'Cos he's worked for them. Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead."

"That's nice. Good boy, Ricky." Nova chuckles knowing he's just doing that to get under Mickey's skin "If you know them, why don't you go and help?" Nova nods "that's a good question" "They wouldn't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover. And er, I'd better keep the Tardis out of sight. Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving."

"Where to?" Mickey asks "The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship."

****

They walk out of the Tardis and straight into a helicopter spotlight. "Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads." Police cars and Saxon armored personnel carriers surround them. Mickey runs. Jackie comes out of the block of flats.

Jackie comes out "Rose! Nova!" Soldiers grab Jackie. "Rose! Nova!" Jackie calls out again. Mickey hides behind some dustbins and the soldiers run straight past. "Raise your hands above your head. You are under arrest."The police tell them "Take me to your leader" the Doctor says. Nova lets out a snort of laughter giving the Doctor a look "really?"

****

The Doctor, Rose, and Nova are put into the police car

"This is a bit posh. If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago." Nova smirks at Rose "I know right?" "We're not being arrested, we're being escorted." "Where to?" "Where'd you think? Downing Street." Nova and Rose give him a look "Seriously?" "You're kidding," they say at the same time.

"I'm not." the Doctor tells them "10 Downing Street?" "That's the one." Rose looks at Nova "Oh, my God Novs. we're going to 10 Downing Street? How come?" "I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, er, noticed." "Now they need you?" "Like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?"

"Patrick Moore?" Rose asks him jokingly the Doctor rolls his eyes "Apart from him." Nova smirks at him "Oh, don't you just love it." "I'm telling you. Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?" "How should I know? I missed a year" Rose tells him. Nova shrugs "don't look at me I've been with you lot."

****

The Doctor mugs for the cameras outside Number Ten. Rose and Nova share a look "Oh, my God"

****

"So, they're all right then? they're not in any trouble?" Jackie asks the police "Well, all I can say is, your daughters and their companion might be in a position to help the country. We'll need to know how they made contact with this man if he is a man. The fat policeman sits down, and his stomach makes an unpleasant noise. "Oof. Right, off you go then. I need to talk with Mrs. Tyler on my own, thank you." A policeman and woman leave.

****

Harriet comes downstairs and shows her ID to an armed policeman. "Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." She mingles with the UNIT officers and large people in the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene? Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times." He hands one to the Doctor. "Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companions don't have clearance." "I don't go anywhere without them." "You're the code nine, not them. I'm sorry, Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? She'll have to stay outside." "they're staying with me." "Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let them in and that's a fact." "It's all right. You go." Rose tells him "yeah we will be fine go on" Nova agrees

"Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?" Harriet asks "Sure." "Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?" "I just need a word in private" "I suppose so. Don't get in any trouble." aiming the end of the statement at Rose and Nova.

The Doctor leaves.

"You haven't got clearance. Now leave it." he turns to Rose and Nova "I'm going to have to leave you with security". "It's all right. I'll look after them. Let me be of some use. Walk with me. Just keep walking." she says to Rose and Nova

****

They follow her as Harriet speaks "That's right. Don't look round. Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." In the briefing room, the Doctor rapidly scans the prepared papers. "This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?" Harriet asks the girls "Why do you want to know?" Rose asks suspiciously Harriet starts crying.

****

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please. As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant." the General addresses the people in the room "Of course, the really interesting bit happened three days ago, see, filed away under Any Other Business. The North Sea. A satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation, at one hundred fathoms, like there's something down there. You were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens. Spaceships, pigs, massive diversion. From what?" The Doctor informs them in a questioning tone.

****

"They turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!" Harriet tells Rose and Nova "It's all right. We believe you. It's, it's alien. They must have some serious technology behind this. If we could find it, we could use it."

Rose and Nova start searching the room. Nova opens a different cupboard and a man's body falls out." Rose looks wide-eyed "Oh, my God! Is that the" Ganesh comes in "Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander. Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!"

****

"If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get? Us. They get us. It's not a diversion, it's a trap."

****

"Oh! Has someone been naughty" Margaret says

****

"It was bigger on the inside. I don't know. What do I know about spaceships?" "That's what worries me. You see, this man is classified as trouble. Which means that anyone associated with him is trouble. And that's my job. " The Police Commissioner removes his cap to undo the zip across his forehead. Blue light fills the flat. "Eliminating trouble"

****

"That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!" Margaret smirks "And who told you that, hmm? Me." Margaret reaches up to her hairline.

****

"This is all about us. Alien experts. The only people with knowledge of how to fight them gathered together in one room." the Doctor tells them Green farts. "Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?" "Would you rather silent but deadly?" General Asquith removes his cap and unzips his forehead. As Green laughs, the room fills with blue light and an alien starts to wriggle out of the skinsuit. In the Cabinet Office, Margaret does the same, flexing her three long fingers in relief.

Jackie comes out of her kitchen to see a similar sight. The aliens stand nearly eight feet tall with incongruous large black eyes in small babyfaces.

"We are the Slitheen." Margaret grabs Ganesh in her massive talons and pushes him up the wall. "Thank you all for wearing your ID cards. They'll help to identify the bodies." Green holds up a remote activation switch, and the ID cards emit electric shocks to their wearers, including the Doctor.

As if knowing that the Doctor is in trouble Nova can once again feel the Fob watch in her pocket calling out to her to open it but she pushes it back not being able to think about it right now trying to figure a way out of the situation they are currently in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is 'Aliens of London' hope you guys like it. Now it's just a couple more chapters till Nova gets her memory back I am so excited to write that chapter. Up next is 'World War Three'


	7. World War Three

The Doctor manages to rip off his ID card. The Doctor smirks at them "Deadly to humans, maybe." And pushes it against the collar around the neck of the revealed Slitheen, enveloping it and Green with the electricity. They don't like it. Neither does the one in the Cabinet Office or Jackie's kitchen. The Doctor, Rose, Nova and Harriet Jones make their escapes, but Jackie is still trapped.

****

Mickey comes in "Jackie!" He smashes a chair across the back of the Slitheen, grabs Jackie's hands and pulls her out of the kitchen. He stops in the doorway to take a photograph of it on his mobile phone.

****

"Oi! If you want aliens, you've got them. They're inside Downing Street. Come on!" The armed police follow him.

Green manages to pull the ID card off 'Asquith's' collar, and the electricity stops. "Reinstate my disguise. Hurry up! Hurry! Hurry!" Green helps the Slitheen into the General's skin suit.

****

"No, wait. They're still in there. The emergency protocols. We need them." Harriet tells them. The Slitheen chases Rose, Nova, and Harriet through a series of rooms, smashing through the oak doors.

****

The Doctor enters with the police just as Green finishes getting Asquith into his skin suit.

"Where have you been? I called for help. I sounded the alarm. There was this lightening, this kind of, er, electricity, and they all collapsed." The policemen check the bodies. The Welsh Sergeant speaks.

"I think they're all dead." "That's what I'm saying. He did it! That man there." The DOctor looks at them "I think you will find the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise. That's never going to work, is it?" "No." one of the policemen says "Fair enough." The Doctor runs

****

And gets trapped between two lots of armed police.

"Under the jurisdiction of the Emergency Protocols, I authorize you to execute this man." The Doctor looks at them smugly "Well, now, yes, you see, er, the thing is if I was you if I was going to execute someone by backing them against the wall, between you and me, a little word of advice." Ding! and a door opens behind the Doctor "Don't stand them against the lift!" He gets in and goes up.

****

The lift doors open and the Slitheen is there. "Hello!" the Doctor says distracting the Slitheen so that Rose, Nova, and Harriet can get past behind it, then closes the lift door again.

****

A large settee, a large drinks cabinet, a folding screen by the window to keep out the draughts.

"Hide!" Rose tells them Rose hides behind the cabinet, Harriet behind the screen. And Nova hides behind another cabinet. 

The Doctor leaves the lift on the second floor.

****

"I repeat, the upper floors are under quarantine. You will stay where you are. You will disregard all previous instructions. You will take your orders directly from me."

The empty lift arrives and Asquith heads for it. Green follows him. Price looks at Green "Mister Green, sir. I'm sorry but you've got to come with me. We should evacuate the entire building." "Sergeant, have you read the Emergency Protocols?" "No, sir." Price answers him "Then don't question me. Seal off Number 10, secure the ground floor, and if the Doctor makes it downstairs - shoot on sight!"

Green closes the lift doors. "Well, you heard him. Move out!"

****

The General smirks "Let the sport begin." (Fart!) "I'm getting poisoned by the gas exchange. I need to be naked." Green says "Rejoice in it. Your body is magnificent." Green unzips his body suit, then Asquith does likewise.

****

The Slitheen Margaret enters. "Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips." Rose makes it from the cabinet to behind a curtain and Nova makes it behind the other curtain.

****

The Doctor runs down the staircase and hides as the lift arrives on this floor. Two naked Slitheen walk out. "It does us good to hunt. Purifies the blood." "We'll keep this floor quarantined as our last hunting ground before the final phase."

****

Slitheens Green and Asquith enter. "My brothers." Slitheen Margaret says "Happy hunting?" "It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink." "Sweat and fear." "I can smell an old girl. Stale bird and brittle bones." "And two ripe youngsters, all hormones and adrenalin. Fresh enough to bend before she snaps." Margaret pulls back the curtain. Rose and Nova scream "No! Take me first! Take me!" Harriet jumps out.

The Doctor bursts in with a fire extinguisher. He sprays the male Slitheen with CO2. "Out, with me!" Rose pulls the curtain down over Margaret. The Doctor looks at Harriet "Who the hell are you?" "Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North." "Nice to meet you." "Likewise." The Doctor uses up the CO2 and they run out.

****

"We need to head to the Cabinet Room." The Doctor tells them "The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens." The Doctor smiles "Harriet Jones, I like you." "And I like you too." The Slitheen chase our heroes through corridors and rooms.

****

The Doctor grabs a decanter from a side table and stands in the doorway. "One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off."

The Slitheen take one step back in the outer office. "Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?" The Doctor questions "They're aliens." "Yes. I got that, thanks." Who are you, if not human?" Green questions the Doctor.

"Who's not human?" "He's not human." Rose informs her "He's not human?" Harriet asks again Nova nods "nope he's an alien" "Can I have a bit of hush?" "Sorry." Harriet apologizes "So, what's the plan?" The Doctor asks the Slitheen. "But he's got a Northern accent." "Lots of planets have a north." Rose and Nova tell her at the same time.

Nova chuckles and looks at Rose "we gotta stop doing that it's kinda creepy" Rose gives her an amused look "now's not the time for that Novs"

"I said hush" The Doctor shushes them then addresses the Slitheen again "Come on. You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?" "Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?" "Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?"

"The Slitheen race?" "Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service." "So, you're family." The doctor states "A family business." "Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?"

"Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?" "Is that what I said?" "You're making it up." "Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it." He goes to hand it to Harriet who is clutching the Red Box. "You pass it to the left first." She tells him "Sorry." Then he turns to Nova and hands it to her. She rolls her eyes "Thanks." "Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter."

"Don't you think we should run?" Rose asks the Doctor but he keeps talking "Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson."

The Doctor lifts a small panel by the door and presses a button. Metal shutters crash shut across the windows and doors. "Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in." Rose looks at him "And how do we get out?" "Ah" Nova gives him a look "didn't think about that did ya?"

****

"He's safely contained. Now, cut off communications inside that room, then summon the family. It's time we finished with this insane planet for good"

****

"And there's still no word from inside Downing Street, though we are getting even more new arrivals. That's group Captain Tennant James of the RAF, though why he's been summoned we've no idea. And that's Ewan McAllister, Deputy Secretary for the Scottish Parliament. And this is most unusual. I'm told that is Sylvia Dillane, Chairman of the North Sea Boating Club. Quite what connects these people, we have no idea."

****

The three Slitheen are back in their body suits.

"Group Captain. Delighted you could make it. We're meeting upstairs. (Fart!) That's the spirit. Off you go. Good to see you. Come on through."Ah, Sergeant. Now that the Doctor's been neutralized, the upper levels are out of bounds to everyone." "Then who are they?" "Need to know, Sergeant. Need to know. I want you to liaise with Communications. The acting Prime Minister will be making a public address. He will speak to the nations of the world."

****

Sylvia goes into the blue lit toilets, while Margaret gets a coat hanger from a rack. "There you are. If you'd just like to go through and get changed."

She takes a skin suit off an emerging Slitheen, who used to be Group Captain James. "Now, if you'd like to head down to the end of the corridor, it's first on the left." "Thank you."

****

"Got anything stronger?" Jackie asks "No chance. I've seen you when you've had a few. This ain't time for a conga." Mickey denies "We've got to tell someone." "Who do we trust? For all we know, they've all got big bog monsters inside of them. I mean, this is what he does, Jacks, that Doctor bloke. Everywhere he goes, death and destruction, and he's got Rose and Nova in the middle of it."

"Has he got a great big green thing inside him, then?" "I wouldn't put it past him. But like it or not, he's the only person who knows how to fight these things." "I thought I was going to die."

Jackie starts crying. Mickey gives her a quick, awkward hug. "Come on, yeah? If anyone's going to cry, it's going to be me. Now, you're safe in my flat, Jacks. No one's going To look for you here, especially since you hate me so much." "You saved my life. God, that's embarrassing." "You're telling me." "He wanted me dead. And he's still out there, Mickey. That policeman. That thing."

****

Back in his skin suit.

"Right, you head off. Inform Control I have got one or two things that still need doing. I haven't quite finished with Mrs. Tyler yet"

****

"Soon." one of the Slitheen says "Oh yes, soon," Green answers McAllister clumps away. "Is that all of us?" "All the family except Sip Fel Fotch. He's found a hunt of his own. "Ah!"

****

The Doctor drags Ganesh's body into a small store room, where the late Anthony Blair is also laid out.

"What was his name?" the Doctor asks Harriet "Who?" "This one. The secretary or whatever he was called." "I don't know. I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name." "Sorry. Right, what have we got? Any terminals, anything?" "No. This place is antique. What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?" Rose tells him "He's too slim. They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans." "But the Slitheen are about eight feet. How do they fit inside?"Nova asks

"That's the device around their necks. Compression field. Literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange." "Wish I had a compression field. I could fit a size smaller." Rose says jokingly Nova chuckles while Harriet gives her an incredulous look "Excuse me, people are dead! This is not the time for making jokes." "Sorry. You get used to this stuff when you're friends with him." "That's true very, very true" Harriet looks at the two girls for a moment before answering "Well, that's a strange friendship."

"Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before. Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?" the Doctor asks Harriet "Oh, hardly." "Rings a bell. Harriet Jones?" "Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now. The Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're all dead downstairs."

Rose looks around the room before asking "Hasn't it got, like, defense codes and things? Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?" "You're a very violent young woman." Harriet tells her "Rose has a point though We could." "Well, there's nothing like that in here. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations."

"Say that again." the Doctor tells her "What, about the codes?" "Anything. All of it."

"Well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN." "Like that's ever stopped them." Rose scoffs "Exactly, given our past record. And I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN. Is it important?"

"Everything's important." "If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted. Listen to me. I'm saying Slitheen as if it's normal." "What do they want, though?" Rose asks "Well, they're just one family, so it's not an invasion. They don't want Slitheen World They're out to make money. That means they want to use something. Something here on Earth. Some kind of asset."

"Like what, gold? Oil? Water?" Harriet asks "You're very good at this." "Thank you." "Harriet Jones. Why do I know that name?" A phone beeps "Oh, that's me." Rose says "But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?" Harriet asks her confused a bit. "He zapped it. Super phone." "Then we can phone for help. You must have contacts." "Dead downstairs, yeah." The Doctor tells her "It's Mickey." Nova rolls her eyes Mickey always seems to call at the most inconvenient times. "Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy." "Yeah, he's not so stupid after all."

Mickey has sent them a photo of a Slitheen.

****

Mickey is on the phone.

"No, no, no, no, no. Not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!" "I could've died!" Jackie exclaimed

****

"Is she all right, though? Don't put her on, just tell me." Rose asks The Doctor takes Rose's phone. "Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer."

****

"It's Mickey, and why should I?" Mickey sasses "Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke" the Doctor starts then pause for a moment "Before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you." he finishes

Mickey is hacking into the UNIT website. "It says password." The Doctor plugs the mobile phone into the conference phone speaker. "Say again." "It's asking for the password." "Buffalo. Two Fs, one L"

****

"So, what's that website?" Jackie asks "All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years." Mickey tells her.

****

"They just kept us in the dark." "Mickey, you were born in the dark." The Doctor tells him. Nova rolls her eyes "Oh, leave him alone. So we can get out of here alive" "Thank you Novs. Password again."

****

"Just repeat it every time." The Doctor tells him

Mickey hands the phone to Jackie so he can use both hands on the computer

"Big Ben - why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?" "You said to gather the experts, to kill them." "That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London." "The Slitheen are hiding, but then they put the entire planet on Red alert"

****

"What would they do that for?" Nova asks "Oh, listen to them," Jackie says. Rose rolls her eyes "At least we're trying" "Well, I've got a question if you don't mind. Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked. In the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell. In my own living room, and my daughters disappeared off the face of the Earth." Even though Nova doesn't call her mum Jackie thinks of the girl as if she were her daughter "Mum we told you what happened." Rose tells her mum. 

****

"I'm talking to him. 'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor. And maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this. Are my girls safe?"

"We're fine." "We are alright Jacks," Rose and Nova say at the same thing but Jackie repeats herself "are they safe? Will they always be safe? Can you promise me that?" The Doctor doesn't say anything "Well, what's the answer?"

****

Mickey takes back the phone.

"We're in."

****

"Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that"

####

The screen changes from a map of the world to an oscilloscope reading, with sound.

"What is it?" Mickey questions "The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it's saying" still ignoring Jackie's question.

****

"He'll have to answer me one day." "Hush" Mickey shushes her

****

"It's some sort of message." "What's it say?" Rose asks "Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating."

Mickey's doorbell rings.

"Hush"

****

"That's not me. Go and see who that is." Mickey says aiming the last part at Jackie "It's three o'clock in the morning." "Well, go and tell them that" Nova looks at her the Doctor "It's beaming out into space right? So who's it for?"

****

"All right!" Jackie gets up and goes over to the door and opens the front door.

"Mrs. Tyler," Strickland says

She slams it shut again and runs back to Mickey.

"It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slipeen!" "They've found us" Mickey informs the Doctor

****

"Mickey, I need that signal." "Never mind the signal, get out! Mum" "Yeah Jacks you guys need to get out of there" Mickey grabs a handy baseball bat. "Just get out! Get out!" "We can't. It's by the front door." Outside, it starts to unzip its body suit. "Oh, my God, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us"

****

"There's got to be some way of stopping them! You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!" Harriet tells the Doctor "I'm trying!"

****

"I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run. Don't look back" Mickey tells her

****

"Just run," Mickey tells Jackie Sounds of the front door splintering. "That's my mother," Rose says 

"Right, If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from. Which planet. So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within traveling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!" "They're green." Rose suggests "Yep, narrows it down." "Good sense of smell." Nova says "Narrows it down." Nova and Rose look at each other as Nova says "They can smell adrenalin." "Narrows it down." "The pig technology" Harriet inputs "Narrows it down." Rose says "The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine?" "Narrows it down"

****  
"It's getting in" Mickey exclaims

####

Nova rolls her eyes "we are trying Mickey" "they hunt like it's a ritual." "Narrows it down." "Wait a minute. Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, er" Harriet tells them. "Bad breath!" Rose tells her "That's it!" "Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!" The Doctor exclaims "We're getting there, Mum" Rose tells Jackie and Mickey.

****

"Too late," Mickey tells them.

****

"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else? Hyphenated surname. Yes! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!" the Doctor exclaims as he figures it out.

****

"Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter." Mickey tells him sarcastically. The front door finally falls apart.

"Get into the kitchen!" the Doctor tells them. They do and try to barricade the door. "My God, it's going to rip us apart" Jackie cries freaking out slightly "Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!" "Just like Hannibal!" Harriet says "Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar" the Doctor confirms.

****

"How should I know?" Mickey says "It's your kitchen." "Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf" Rose tells them Jackie takes the phone. "Oh, give it here. What do you need?" "Anything with vinegar!" the Doctor tells her Jackie grabs a large jug and starts pouring stuff in. "Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs."

****

The Doctor looks at Rose "And you kiss this man?" Nova snickers "That is disgusting"

The Slitheen breaks in. Jackie throws the vile contents of the jug over it. It stops, farts then explodes, redecorating the kitchen in green innards.

"Hannibal?"Rose asks "Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." HArriet tells her "Oh. Well, there you go then."

They all toast the moment with a glass of port from the decanter.

****

"He's dead. Sip Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen is dead" "I felt it. How could that happen?" Green asks "Somebody must have got lucky." "That's the last piece of luck anyone on this rock will ever have."

****

Green and Asquith go outside to make the promised broadcast.

"Ladies and gentlemen, nations of the world, humankind. The greatest experts in extra-terrestrial events came here tonight. They gathered in the common cause, but the news I bring you now is grave indeed." Green announces

Green is speaking on tv "The experts are dead, murdered right in front of me by alien hands. Peoples of the Earth, heed my words. These visitors do not come in peace." "Listen to this," Mickey tells them and holds the phone in front of the television.

"Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads. And they have found massive weapons of destruction. Capable of being deployed within forty-five seconds." "What," the Doctor asks

"Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long. We are facing extinction unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival because from this moment on it is my solemn duty to inform you planet Earth is at war." Green finishes

****

"He's making it up. There are no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it."

"Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet asks "They did last time." Rose tells them "That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out." "oh my god they release the defense codes," Nova says in realization "And the Slitheen go nuclear." the Doctor adds "But why?"

The Doctor opens the metal shutters.

"You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. The whole planet gets nuked" "And we can sit through it safely in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away." Margret reveals "But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?" "Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert." "The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel."

"At the cost of five billion lives." "Bargain." she says as if it's nothing "I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you." "What, you? Trapped in your box?" "Yes. Me." the Doctor tells her.

The Doctor closes the shutters on Margaret's laughing face, and she starts to worry.

****

Next Morning

"Yesterday saw the start of a brave new world. Today might see it end. The streets are deserted. Everyone's home, just waiting, as the future is decided in New York."

****

"It's midnight here in New York. The United Nations has gathered. England has provided them with absolute proof that the massive weapons of destruction do exist"

****

"The Security Council will be making a resolution in a matter of minutes, and once the codes are released, humanity's first interplanetary war begins"

****

"Sergeant. We'll take the call in the Prime Minister's office. Maintain your positions. Good luck" Green tells him. "Oh, look at that. The telephone is actually red." Margret says

Green farts as he sits down. "How long till they phone?" "Counting down." There is a handful of Smarties by the phone

****

"Alright, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do." Jackie tells him

****

"If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid." Harriet suggests "Mickey, any luck?" Rose asks "There are loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail." "Voicemail dooms us all." "If we could just get out of here." Nova and Rose say at the same time.

The Doctor looks at them "There's a way out." "What?" Rose asks him "There's always been a way out." "Then why don't we use it?" Nova asks the Doctor sighs "Because I can't guarantee your girls will be safe."

****

"Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare." Jackie tells him "That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies." "Do it." Rose and Nova tell him. The Doctor looks at them "You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?" "Yeah." Rose tells him "Pretty much" Nova finishes "Please" Jackie pleads

****

"Doctor. Please. They're my girls. They're just kids." Jackie pleads with him again "Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will." "Then what're you waiting for?" Rose tells him "I could save the world but lose you and Nova." "Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine." Harriet tells him. "And who the hell are you?" Jackie demands. "Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it"

****

"Victory should be naked!" Green, Margaret, and Asquith unzip their body suits.

****

"How do we get out?" Rose questions "We don't. We stay here." The Doctor gets the Emergency Protocols from the Red Box.

****

"The Council is voting. The results should be known any second now"

****

"Use the buffalo password. It overrides everything" the Doctor tells Mickey "What're you doing?" Jackie asks him "Hacking into the Royal Navy. We're in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth." Mickey tells her "Right, we need to select a missile." "We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defense codes"

####

"We don't need it. All we need is an ordinary missile" "What's the first category?" the Doctor asks Mickey "Sub Harpoon, UGM-A4A" "That's the one. Select." "I could stop you." Jackie warns "Do it, then." Mickey tells her "You ready for this?" "Yeah," Mickey tells him "Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands." "Fire." Mouse click. Big Whoosh as a missile launches from below the sea and heads for its target. "Oh, my God" Jackie exclaims. 

****

"How solid are these?" Harriet asks "Not solid enough. Built for short range attack, nothing this big." The Doctor tells her "All right, now I'm making the decision. I'm not going to die. We're going to ride this one out. It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a door frame. Now, this cupboard's small so it's strong. Come and help me. Come on." Harriet and Nova do, as the missile heads up the Channel.

****

"The vote is in. The Council says yes. They are releasing the codes" All the Slitheen family are gathered "Ring, damn you"

****  
"It's on radar," Mickey tells them. Rose, Nova, and Harriet are emptying the cupboard. "Counter defense five five-six." "Stop them intercepting it," the Doctor tells him "I'm doing it now." "Good boy" "Five five-six neutralized." The Doctor unplugs the phone as the missile heads inland over Seven Sisters.  
****

"What do you mean, incoming?" Price demands A man points at the graphic on his computer screen. Price sets off a fire alarm. "Everybody out now! Now!" He runs up the stairs.

****

"What the hell is that for?" Sergeant Price bursts in. "Sir, there's a missile!" he looks up and sees the Slitheen. "Sorry." he says before He runs away. The missile approaches the Thames from the south. Jackie watches it pass from Mickey's balcony. Meanwhile, the Slitheen squabble over the body suits.

"That's mine! You've got mine!" Slitheen 1 says "Disguise me! Disguise me!" Slitheen 2 demands "You're the blonde. I want the other one." Slitheen 3 says "Take it off!" Slitheen 1 demands. Price fires a shot into the air as his men and the remains of the Downing Street staff run out of the building. "Everybody run!" The missile begins its descent.

****

Harriet looks at the three of them "Here we go. Nice knowing you three. Hannibal!" then the four of them get into the cupboard.

****

"Oh, boll," one of the Slitheen says then KaBOOM! The iconic front door blows off in a fireball. The cupboard shakes then rolls through the remains of the building inside its steel shell.

****

The Doctor pushes the steel door off and Harriet steps out. "Made in Britain." Harriet says Nova nods "oh yeah you got that right" "Oh, my God. Are you alright?" Price asks stunned "Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact the UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news" Harriet tells him "Yes, ma'am." he tells her and rushes off. "Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister" 

The Doctor smirks "Maybe you should have a go." "Me? Huh. I'm only a back-bencher." "I'd vote for you," Rose tells her "So would I" Nova agrees "Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!" Harriet makes her way down the pile of rubble. "We're safe! The Earth is safe!" Harriet cheers "Sergeant!" "I thought I knew the name. Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age." Nova smiles "I can see it" "The crisis has passed! Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to say to you all here today! Mankind stands tall, proud and undefeated. God bless the human race."

****

Jackie embraces Rose and Nova as the Doctor returns to the Tardis. A little later. Harriet is on tv "Mankind stands tall, proud" "Harriet Jones. Who does she think she is? Look at her, taking all the credit. Should be you on there. My daughters saved the world!" "I think the Doctor helped a bit." Nova nods "Yeah just a bit" "All right, then. Him too. You should be given knighthoods."

"That's not the way he does things. No fuss. He just moves on. He's not that bad if you gave him a chance." "He's good in a crisis, I'll give him that." JAckie says Nova smirks at Jackie "Oh, now the world has changed. You're saying nice things about him." jackie rolls her eyes "Well, I reckon I've got no choice. There's no getting rid of him since you're infatuated the both of you" "I'm not infatuated." Rose said as Nova rolled her eyes "Nope not infatuated" "What does he eat?" Jackie asks out of the blue "How do you mean?"

"I was going to do shepherds pie. All of us. A proper sit-down, 'cos I'm ready to listen. I wanna learn about you and him and that life you lead. Only, I don't know, he's an alien. For all I know, he eats grass and safety pins and things." "He'll have shepherd pie. You're going to cook for him?" "What's wrong with that?" Jackie asks "He's finally met his match." Rose tells her Nova laughs "That is very true" "You're not too old for a slap, you know. You can go and visit your Gran tomorrow. You'd better learn some French. I told her you two were in France. I said you were au-pairing."

Rose answers her phone. The caller ID says Tardis calling "Hello?" "Right, I'll be a couple of hours, then we can go" Rose sounds surprised "You've got a phone?" "You think I can travel" The Doctor is speaking into a 1970s Trimphone! "Through space and time and I haven't got a phone? Like I said, a couple of hours. I've just got to send out this dispersal. There you go. That's canceling out the Slitheen advert in case any bargain hunters turn up."

****

"Er, my mother's cooking," Rose tells him "Good. Put her on a slow heat and let her simmer." "She's cooking tea. For us." "I don't do that" "She wants to get to know you," Rose tells him. "Tough. I've got better things to do" "It's just tea," Rose tells him "Not to me it isn't" He denies "She's my mother" "Well, she's not mine." he tells her "That's not fair," Rose tells him

"Well, you can stay there if you want, but right now there's this plasma storm brewing in the Horsehead Nebula. Fires are burning ten million miles wide. I could fly the Tardis right into the heart of it then ride the shock wave all the way out. Hurtle right across the sky and end Anywhere. Your choice." He tells her

Rose nudges Nova towards her room so they can pack a few things this time.

****  
"Rose, Nova I was thinking. I've got that bottle of Amaretto from New Year's Eve. Does he drink?"

Rose and Nova are in their rooms, packing a rucksack.

"I was wondering whether he drinks or not." "Yeah, he does." Rose tells her "Don't go, sweetheart. Please don't go. Either of you" Nova gives Jackie a smile "Sorry Jacks but I can't just walk away from this... It gives me a sense of home I can't really explain it"

****

Mickey is sitting on a rubbish bin reading the newspaper while the young boy is finishing cleaning off the Bad Wolf tag.

"Good lad. Graffiti that again and I'll have you. Now, beat it." The boy runs off with his bucket and scrubbing brush.

"I just went down the shop, and I was thinking, you know like the whole world's changed. Aliens and spaceships all in public. And here it is." The Evening Standard headline is - Alien Hoax.

"How could they do that? They saw it." "They're just not ready. You're happy to believe in something that's invisible, but if it's staring you in the face, nope, can't see it. There's a scientific explanation for that. You're thick." "We're just idiots." "Well, not all of you," he tells Mickey

"Yeah?" "Present for you, Mickey." He gives Mickey a CD. "That's a virus. Put it online. It'll destroy every mention of me. I'll cease to exist." "What do you want to do that for?" "Because you're right, I am dangerous. I don't want anybody following me."

Jackie, Rose, and Nova come out of the block.

"How can you say that and then take them with you?" The Doctor looks at him "You could look after them. Come with us." Mickey shakes his head "I can't. This life of yours, it's just too much. I couldn't do it. Don't tell her I said that." Mickey tells him "I'll get a proper job. I'll work weekends. I'll pass my test, and if Jim comes round again, I'll say no. I really will." Jackie pleads with the two of them "I'm not leaving because of you. I'm traveling, that's all, and then I'll come back. And Nova already told you why she's going" 

"But it's not safe." Jackie tries again "Mum, if you saw it out there you'd never stay home." "Got enough stuff?" the Doctor asked them "Last time we stepped in there, it was a spur of the moment. Now we're signing up. You're stuck with us."

Rose gives the Doctor her rucksack and goes to Mickey. "Come with us. There's plenty of room" "No chance. He's a liability, I'm not having him on board." the Doctor tells her "We'd be dead without him." Rose reminds him "My decision is final" nobody But Nova catches the look Mickey and The Doctor share.

"Sorry," Rose tells him then Rose and Mickey kiss goodbye. "Good luck, yeah," Mickey tells her.

"You still can't promise me. What if they get lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and they're left all alone standing on some moon a million light years away. How long do I wait then?" "Mum, you're forgetting. It's a time machine. I could go traveling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe, and by the time I get back, yeah, ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds. So stop worrying. See you in ten seconds' time, yeah?" Rose tells her

Jackie and Rose hug then Jackie hugs Nova, then Rose and Nova follow the Doctor into the Tardis. Mickey gives a little wave. The Tardis dematerializes. Jackie looks at her watch. "Ten seconds." Jackie goes back to the flats. Mickey carries on reading the newspaper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is 'World War Three' hope you guys like it. Next is 'Dalek' and I am so excited to write it now it will be a bit different than the actual episode especially with Adam at the end but you will just have to wait and see just what that difference is also Nova gets her memories back and becomes a Time Lady again Yay!!


	8. Dalek

The Tardis materializes in dimly lit area with carpeting and display cases.

Rose looks at the Doctor "So what is it? What's wrong?" "Don't know. Some kind of signal drawing the Tardis off course." "Where are we?" Nova asks "Earth. Utah, North America. About half a mile underground." "And when are we?" Rose asks him "Two thousand and twelve. They step out of the Tardis and He looks at a display case.

Rose looks surprised "God, that's so close. So I should be twenty-six and Nova you should be twenty-seven" The Doctor finds the light switch, and things become more clear.

"Blimey. It's a great big museum." Rose states as the lights come on "An alien museum. Someone's got a hobby. They must have spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite, moon dust. That's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship" The Doctor informs them.

Nova looks surprised "That's a bit of Slitheen! That's a Slitheen arm. It's been stuffed." "Oh, look at you." the Doctor stops in front of one of the cases "What is it?" Rose asks intrigued. 

The head of a Cyberman. "An old friend of mine. Well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old." "Is that where the signals coming from?" the girls ask together "No, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out, calling for help."

The Doctor touches the display case and an alarm goes off. Armed guards rush in from all sides and cut them off from the Tardis. Rose looks at the Doctor "If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A."

****

Tannoy announces "Attention all personnel. Bad Wolf One descending. Bad Wolf One descending."

A helicopter has landed. Four armed guards line the corridor as a man and his aides stride out of a doorway. "On behalf of all of us, I want to wish you a very happy birthday, sir. And the President called to convey his personal best wishes." "The President is ten points down. I want him replaced." "I don't think that's very wise, sir." "Thank you so much for your opinion. You're fired. Get rid of him." "What?" he asks confused and surprised

An armed guard drags Polkowski away. "Wipe his memory, put him on the road someplace. Memphis, Minneapolis. Somewhere beginning with M." Van Statten tells them.

A woman runs up to take Polkowski's place. "So, the next President. What do you think? Republican or Democrat?" "Democrat, sir." "For what reason?" "They're just so funny, sir?"

Van Statten stops. "What is your name?" he asks the woman "Goddard, sir. Diana Goddard." she replies "I like you, Diana Goddard. So, where's the English kid?" "Sir! Sir! I bought ten more artefacts at auction, Mister Van Statten" Adam tells him "Bring 'em on, let me see 'em." "Sir, with respect, there's something more urgent. We arrested two intruders fifty three floors down. We don't know how they got in." "I'll tell you how they got in. In-tru-da window. In-tru-da window. That was funny!"

There is Obedient laughter. "Bring 'em in. Let's see 'em. And tell Simmons I want to visit my little pet. Get to it!" Van Statten goes through a doorway. Goddard steps aside to use her headset. "Simmons? You'd better give me good news. Is it talking?"

****

Something with blue vision is watching a man wearing a protective suit wielding a chainsaw on itself. "Not exactly talking, no." "Then what's it doing?" Goddard asks "Screaming. Is that any good?" Simmons answers

****

Adam is showing his boss the latest purchases. "And this is the last. Paid eight hundred thousand dollars for it."

The Doctor, Rose, Nova, and Goddard enter.

"What does it do? Van Statten asks "Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel." "I really wouldn't hold it like that." The Doctor tells them "Shut it." Goddard tells him "Really, though, that's wrong." "Is it dangerous?" Adam asks him "No, it just looks silly."

The Doctor reaches for the item, and firing bolts click all around him. Van Stratton hands him the curved, palm-sized object. "You just need to be" The Doctor strokes the artifact and it makes a note. "Delicate." He plays several different notes. "It's a musical instrument." Van Statten states "And it's a long way from home." the Doctor tells them

"Here, let me." Van Stattens touch is harsher. Not nice sounds are produced. "I did say delicate. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision." the Doctor reminds them Van Statten finally gets the hang of it.

"Very good. Quite the expert." the Doctor tells him "As are you." Van Statten remarks Van Statton casually tosses it aside, onto the floor and gets down to business "Who exactly are you?" "I'm the Doctor. And who are you?" "Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extraterrestrial artifacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake." Van Statten tells him smugly "Pretty much sums me up, yeah." was the Doctors reply "The question is, how did you get in? Fifty-three floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplices. You're quite a collector yourself, they're rather pretty." Rose scoffs "She's going to smack you if you keep calling her she." "She's English too! Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a girlfriend."

The Adam introduces him "This is Mister Henry Van Statten."Nova gives him a look that says am I supposed to know who that is "And who's he when he's at home?" "Mister Van Statten owns the internet." Nova laughs as Rose shakes her head "Don't be stupid. No one owns the internet." "And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" "So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up." "And you claim greater knowledge?" Van Statten questions "I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am." "And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?"

"You tell me." the Doctor counters "The cage contains my one living specimen." "And what's that?" "Like you don't know." "Show me." the doctor all but demands "You want to see it?" Van Statten asks.

Rose says "Blimey, you can smell the testosterone." Nova snorts out a laugh "Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down. You, English. Look after the girls. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet" Van Statten demands.

****  
"We've tried everything. The creature has shielded itself but there's definite signs of life inside.""Inside? Inside what?" the Doctor inquires "Welcome back, sir. I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting." Simmons informs them.

"Metaltron?" "Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it? Although I'd much to prefer to find out its real name." Van Statten tells the Doctor "Here, you'd better put these on." gauntlets "The last guy that touched it burst into flames" Simmons tells him but the Doctor just says "I won't touch it then." "Go ahead, Doctor. Impress me." Van Statten tells him.

The Doctor steps through the heavy door. "Don't open that door until we get a result." Van Statten tells Simmons. Van Statten and Goddard go to a desk with monitors on it.

****

It is dark inside. The door clangs shut and locks. The Doctor looks at the creature "Look, I'm sorry about this. Mister Van Statten might think he's clever but never mind him. I've come to help. I'm the Doctor." A white light blinks next to a blue glow. "Doc Tor?" the Doctors face pales "Impossible." "The Doctor?" The Dalek says then the lights come up to reveal a bad-tempered pepperpot being held in chains. "Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Dalek yells out The Doctor hammers on the door in terror. "Let me out!" "Exterminate!" the Dalek once again yells

****

Sir, it's going to kill him." Goddard informs "It's talking!" Van Statten tells her.

****

"You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!" the Daleks gun arm twitches but nothing happens. the Doctor smirks "It's not working." The Doctor laughs as the Dalek looks at its impotent weapon. "Fantastic! Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you. The great space dustbin. How does it feel?" "Keep back!" the Dalek demands. The Doctor stands inches away, staring into its eyepiece.

"What for? What're you going to do to me? If you can't kill, then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you? You're nothing"

****  
They are watching the Doctor on the monitor "What the hell are you here for?" "I am waiting for orders" the Dalek answers.

****

"What does that mean?" the Doctor asks "I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders." "Well, you're never going to get any. Not ever." "I demand orders!" The Dalek demands "They're never going to come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second."

"You lie!" the Dalek says the Doctor smirks "I watched it happen. I made it happen" "You destroyed us?" "I had no choice." "And what of the Time Lords?" "Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost." the Doctor tells him with a twinge of sadness in his voice "And the coward survived." "Oh, and I caught your little signal. Help me. Poor little thing. But there's no one else coming 'cause there's no one else left." "I am alone in the universe." "Yep." "So are you. We are the same." "We're not the same! I'm not" he pauses "No, wait. Maybe we are. You're right. Yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cause I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate."

The Doctor pulls a lever on a nearby console and the Dalek is lit up with electricity. "Have pity!" The Dalek pleads. The Doctors face hardens "Why should I? You never did"

****

"Get him out." VAn Statten demands.

****

"Help me!" The Dalek says Guards grab the Doctor as he goes to ramp up the voltage again. "I saved your life. Now talk to me. Goddamn it, talk to me!" Van Statten demands the Dalek

Simmons turns off the electricity. "You've got to destroy it!" the Doctor tells them

The Doctor is dragged out. "The last in the universe. And now I know your name. Dalek. Speak to me, Dalek. I am Henry van Statten, now recognize me! Make it talk again, Simmons. Whatever it takes" Van Statten demands.

****

Adam looks at the two girls "Sorry about the mess. Mister Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing, so long as I deliver the goods. What do you think that is?" Adam gives Rose an inch thick piece of metal. "Er, a lump of metal?" Rose questions "Yeah. Yeah, but I think, well, I'm almost certain, it's from the hull of a spacecraft. The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet, spacecraft, aliens, visitors to Earth. They really exist."

Nova smiles "Wow that's amazing" "I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe the whole universe is just teeming with life." Rose looks at him "I'm gobsmacked, yeah. And you do what, sit here and catalog it?" Adam smiles "Best job in the world." Rose smirks at him "Imagine if you could get out there. Travel amongst the stars and see it for real." "Yeah, I'd give anything. I don't think it's ever going to happen. Not in our lifetimes." Rose shrugs "Oh, you never know. What about all those people who say they've been inside of spaceships and things and talked to aliens?"

"I think they're nutters." Adam tells them Rose nods playing along "Yeah, me too. So, how'd you end up here?" "Van Statten has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit." Adam explains to them "Oh, right. You're a genius." Adam smirks "Sorry, but yeah. I can't help it. I was born clever. When I was eight, I logged onto the US Defence System. Nearly caused World War Three." "What, and that's funny, is it?" Rose says as Nova gives him a look "Well, you should've been there just to see them running about. Fantastic!" Rose rolls her eyes "You sound like the Doctor." "Are you and him?" he asks "No, we're just friends," Rose tells him.

"Good." she gives him a look "Why is it good?" "It just is." Nova scrunches up her nose "ew keep flirting like that and I am going to throw up" Rose ignores Nova's comment "So, wouldn't you rather be downstairs? I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mister Van Statten has got a living creature down there." "Yeah. Yeah, well, I did ask, but he keeps it to himself. Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch through on the comm. System."

"Let's have a look, then." Rose says excitedly "It doesn't do much, the alien. It's weird. It's kind of useless. It's just like this great big pepper pot." They watch the Dalek screaming as Simmons takes a big drill to its casing. "It's being tortured! Where's the Doctor?" Rose asks "I don't know." Adam tells her "Take me down there now" She demands then looks at Nova "You coming?" Nova gives her a fake smile "I'll be right there" Rose and Adam run off downstairs.

Seeing Dalek snapped something in Nova and she feels the call of the Fob watch more than ever it's as if it's saying 'open me' 'open me' she pulls it out of her pocket and for the first time since became human she can see the Gallifreyan swirls on the front of the watch and for the first time it opens and there is a bright golden glow that envelops Nova and she grabs her head and falls to her knees and an ear-piercing scream rips out of her throat and she feels one of the most intense pains she's ever felt and then once it subsides she rises to her feet and for the first time since she was 14 she remembers everything.

She reaches up and feels her teeth "Ohh new teeth" she bites the air a few times "why is it always the teeth?" she feels the rest of her face "Okay so two eyes, two ears, one mouth and one nose" she looks down "okay two arms and two legs" and finally she pulls her hair around and squeals "Yes! I'm ginger... take that dad I got ginger before you did" Then her eyes widen "oh my god...Dad!" she takes off running after Rose and Adam.

****

"The metal's just battle armor. The real Dalek creature is inside" "What does it look like?" "A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed except hate" "Genetically engineered. By whom?" "By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. You'd like him."

Then they hear a loud scream ring out through the facility and the Doctor can feel it the feeling of another Time Lord in his head but he hides the reaction making sure to keep his face neutral "What was that?" Van Statten looks confused as well "I have no idea but it was probably nothing" Goddard shakes her head "No clue what that was sir, It's been on Earth for over fifty years. Sold at a private auction, moving from one collection to another. Why would it be a threat now?" "Because I'm here. How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?" "The records say it came from the sky like a meteorite. It fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands. Burnt in its crater for three days before anybody could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must have gone insane."

"It must have fallen through time. The only survivor." the continue talking forgetting about the scream well not the Doctor but the others "You talked about a war?" "The Time War. The final battle between my people and the Dalek race." "But you survived, too." "Not by choice." "This means that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth. Doctor, there's you. The only one of your kind in existence"

****

So the Doctor is stripped and chained spread-eagled. He closes off the link to the other Time Lord that he felt earlier so that they won't be able to tune into this "Now, smile! " A painful laser scan runs down the Doctor's body. "Two hearts! Binary vascular system. Oh, I am so going to patent this." "So that's your secret. You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it." "This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries. All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh, the advances I've made from alien junk. You have no idea, Doctor. Broadband? Roswell. Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian crater, and do you know what we found? The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory of course. No need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?" "Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten? A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you." The Doctor tells him "In that case, I will be true to myself and continue."

"Listen to me! That thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us!" the Doctor tries to warn them "Nothing can escape the Cage." He blasts the Doctor with the laser again. "But it's woken up. It knows I'm here. It's going to get out. Van Statten, I swear, no one on this base is safe. No one on this planet! " Van Statten runs the laser scan again, just to hear the Doctor scream

****

Nova finally caught up with Rose and Adam "Sorry I just needed a minute that thing gave me the serious creeps" Rose nods. "Hold it right there." the guard tells them but Adam tells him "Level three access. Special clearance from Mister Van Statten"

****

"Don't get too close." Adam tells her Nova grabs her arm "and Rose whatever you do don't touch it" She nods The door closes behind Rose, Nova, and Adam.

"Hello. Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler. I've got a friend, he can help. He's called the Doctor. What's your name?" "Yes." the Dalek tells Rose sending a shiver of fear through Nova's spine "What?" Rose asks "I am in pain. They torture me, but still, they fear me. Do you fear me?" "No." Nova looks at Rose "you should fear it we should all fear it" but Rose just shakes her off "I am dying." "No, we can help."

Nova grabs Rose's arm again "Rose no we should leave now" "I welcome death. But I am glad that before I die I have met a human who was not afraid." "Isn't there anything I can do?" "seriously Rose, stay back" Nova's voice comes out strong but Rose ignores her "My race is dead, and I shall die alone." Rose reaches for the Dalek's head.

"Rose, no!" Adam calls out A brief touch leaves a golden handprint which quickly fades. The Dalek becomes more animated.

Nova looks wide-eyed "Rose what have you done?" "Genetic material extrapolated. Initiate cellular reconstruction!" The Dalek breaks its chains. Simmons enters "What the hell have you done?" Rose, Nova, and Adam run out of the cage. He goes to the Dalek, carrying his drill. The Dalek raises its sink plunger. "What are you going to do? Sucker me to death?" The sucker covers his nose and mouth and the Dalek creates a vacuum inside it. Ouch!

****

"It's killing him! Do something!" Rose demands "Condition red! Condition red" Nova bites her lip then shoots a glare at Rose, "I told you not to touch it" "well how was I supposed to know?" Nova lets out a breath "See times like these are the times you should listen when I warn you about things" Nova pitches the bridge of her nose before looking at Rose again "the touch of a time traveler is all it took to wake it up...... that's the reason I said whatever you do don't touch it..... But what do you do, you go and touch it... thank god seeing that thing snapped something inside of me because now I know things... things that I didn't know that I couldn't remember but I know them now and I know you should have listened to me"

Nova turns around and rolls her neck "Now we need to find the Doctor and find a way out of here before that thing kills us all"

****

"I repeat, this is not a drill!" a guard calls out" "Release me if you want to live" the Doctor tells them.

****

The scene in the Cage is on a large wall TV. "You've got to keep it in that cell." Rose is talking to the Doctor from the monitor "Doctor, it's all my fault." Nova rolls her eyes and buts in "Yeah it is, she had to go and feel bad for it and touch it.. Just gonna put this out there I told her not to" Rose glares at Nova "What the hell Nova!" she shrugs then the guard tells them "I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations." "A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat." And that is precisely what the Dalek uses its sucker to do. "Open fire!" Bywater commands

****

"Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed." Nova rolls her eyes and snaps "you don't kill it it's gonna kill us all" "Rose, Nova get out of there!" The Doctor calls to them. Nova grabs Rose by the arm and pulls her along as she runs. "De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive. That is your job, got that?" The woman guard obeys. "You, with me."

****  
The Dalek glides up to the wall monitor and smashes it, absorbing the electricity. It's battered armor starts to mend, turning from brown to golden. "Abandoning the Cage, sir"

****

"We're losing power. It's draining the base. Oh, my God. It's draining entire power supplies for the whole of Utah." Goddard tells them "It's downloading." The Doctor informs "Downloading what?" Van Statten asks "Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down." "It's not just energy. That Dalek just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything"

****

"The Daleks survive in me!" the Dalek uses its weapon on its surroundings.

****

"The cameras in the vault have gone down."We've only got emergency power. It's eaten everything else. You've got to kill it now!" "All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage, immediately." Goddard orders

****  
"Civilians! Let them through!" Rose, Nova, Adam, and De Maggio run through the incoming phalanx of guards. "Cover the north wall. Red division, maintain suppressing fire along the perimeter. Blue division argh!"

The guard dies the traditional extermination death, by turning black and white and having his skeleton exposed. The guards open fire, but the Dalek just absorbs the bullets. It kills another man. More guards come up behind it, so it swivels its eyepiece around then its middle section turns to open fire on them. Back and forward it alternates, killing someone each time.

****

"Tell them to stop shooting at it." Van Statten demands "But it's killing them!" "They're dispensable. That Dalek is unique. I don't want a scratch on its bodywork, do you hear me? Do you hear me?"

The gunfire stops, but only because there is no one left to shoot. Goddard calls up a schematic of the base.

"That's us, right below the surface. That's the cage, and that's the Dalek." "This museum of yours. Have you got any alien weapons?" The Doctor asks "Lots of them, but the trouble is the Dalek's between us and them." Goddard tells him "We've got to keep that thing alive. We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there." "Leaving everyone trapped with it. Rose and Nova are down there. I won't let that happen. Have you got that? It's got to go through this area. What's that?" "Weapons testing." "Give guns to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone. Everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it."

****

"Stairs! That's more like it. It hasn't got legs. It's stuck! " Rose says they run up the stairs as Nova mutters "that won't stop it" "It's coming! Get up!"

They run a flight and look down on the Dalek."Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs." Nova rolls her eyes once again "Now listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate then I can guarantee that Mister van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong, but people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?"

"Elevate." The Dalek glides up the stairs, just like its forebears did at Coal Hill School. "Oh my God" Rose says Nova smirks "saw that coming" "Adam, get them out of here." "Come with us. You can't stop it." Rose tells her Nova looks at her "she's right you're bullets won't even get close to touching it"

"Someone's got to try. Now get out! Don't look back. Just run." Despite the closing range, de Maggio doesn't hit the eyepiece. She suffers the usual fate.

****

"I thought you were the great expert, Doctor. If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something." "What's the nearest town?" The Doctor asks "Salt Lake City." "Population?"

"One million." Van Statten answers "All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs."

"But why would it do that?" "Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose! The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home, but it's not indestructible."

****

"If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece." the Doctor tells them "That's the weak spot"

****

The Commander says "Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot. Positions!"

His men take cover behind various corners, packing cases, boxes and up on a catwalk with him. Rose, Nova, and Adam run into view.

"Hold your fire! You three, get the hell out of there!" Rose, Nova, and Adam run past a guard at the entrance. The Dalek enters, turns and zooms in on Rose's face. They get out of the bay.

****

Rose looks at them wide-eyed "It was looking at me." "Yeah, it wants to slaughter us." "Yeah that is its entire purpose is to kill" "I know, but it was looking right at me." Rose tells them "So? It's just a sort of metal eye thing. It's looking all around." "I don't know. It's like there's something inside, looking at me, like, like it knows me." Nova rolls her eyes "It's because you're DNA is what woke it up" Rose looks at Nova "What? How can you know that?"

****

"On my mark. Open fire!" The commander tells his guards

****

"We've got vision." Goddard informs them "It wants us to see," the Doctor tells her.

****

The hail of bullets is having no effect. Then the Dalek starts to rise straight up into the air. It zaps the fire alarm and the sprinklers are set off. Once the concrete floor is covered with a layer of water, it fires downwards and electrocutes every wet person on the ground.

"Fall back! Fall back!"

The Dalek exterminates kills him and the rest of his men with another strategic shot then continues to hang there, water pouring down its shell, crying in the rain.

****

"Perhaps it's time for a new strategy. Maybe we should consider abandoning this place." Van Statten suggests "Except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out." Goddard tells him "You said we could seal the vault." the Doctor states "It was designed to be a bunker in the event of nuclear war. Steel bulkheads" "There's not enough power, those bulkheads are massive." "We've got emergency power. We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors" "We'd have to bypass the security codes. That would take a computer genius." "Good thing you've got me, then." Van Statten tells them the Doctor looks at him questioningly "You want to help?" "I don't want to die, Doctor. Simple as that. And nobody knows this software better than me."

"Sir." Goddard saying to get their attention

The Dalek is back on the ground.

The Dalek talks through the monitor "I shall speak only to the Doctor." "You're going to get rusty." the Doctor tells it "I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveler regenerated me." "What's your next trick?" "I have been searching for the Daleks" "Yeah, I saw. downloading the internet. What did you find?" the Doctor asks. "I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes"

****

"And?" "Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?" "You're just a soldier without commands" "Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer." "What for? What's the point? Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for."

####

The Dalek questions. "Then what should I do" The Doctor is quiet fo a moment before speaking "All right, then. If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself" "The Daleks must survive!" Then the doctor yells "The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the universe of your filth. Why don't you just die?" "You would make a good Dalek," The Dalek says before disconnecting the camera in that area

****

The screen goes blank. "Seal the Vault." the Doctor tells them "I can leech power off the ground defenses, feed it to the bulkheads. God, it's been years since I had to work this fast." "Are you enjoying this?" "Doctor, they're still down there"

****

Rose's phone rings. "This isn't the best time." Rose says into the phone "Where are you?" "Level forty-nine." Rose tells him "You and Nova have got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level forty-six" "Can't you stop them closing?" Rose asks "I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you." he tells her. "Now for God's sake, run both of you run!"

The Dalek is at level fifty-one.

****

"Done it. We've got power to the bulkheads." "The Dalek's right behind them"

****

"We're nearly there. Give us two seconds" Rose tells him. 

****  
"Doctor, I can't sustain the power. The whole system is failing. Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads." Van Statten tells him "I'm sorry" the Doctor says

****

The Doctor hits Enter. A klaxon sounds and the bulkhead starts to lower. "Come on!" Adam rolls under the bulkhead with eighteen inches to spare. Rose calls out "Nova go you can make it but I won't" Nova Stops "No I will not leave you here to die, Rose, I may be upset about this whole situation but I am not leaving you here to die"

****

"The vault is sealed." "Rose, Nova where are you? Rose, Nova did you make it" "Sorry, I was a bit slow and Nova wouldn't leave me," Rose tells him as Nova leans back against the door with tears in her eyes.

The Dalek comes round the corner.

"See you, then, Doctor. It wasn't your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. And do you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Neither one of us"

****

"Exterminate!" the Dalek yells Zap!

"I killed them" "I'm sorry." Van Statten tells him "I said I'd protect them. They were only here because of me, and you're sorry? I could've killed that Dalek in its cell, but you stopped me." "It was the prize of my collection!" Van Statten defends "Your collection? But was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth Rose and Nova? Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater." "Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!"

"You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get. And you took them down with you. They were nineteen and twenty years old"

****

Nova slide down the door with tears streaming down her face "I'm gonna die down here and he's never gonna know that even for a brief moment that he wasn't alone that he wasn't the last one" Nova thinks 'I'm Sorry Daddy'

****

As Nova thinks it the Doctor hears it is in his head ' I'm sorry Daddy' three words and his face hardens knowing now that the Daleks finally took everything from him.

****

Rose looks at the Dalek "Go on then, kill me. Why're you doing this?" "I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose." "They're all dead because of you." "They are dead because of us." "And now what? What're you waiting for?" "I feel your fear." "What do you expect?" "Daleks do not fear. Must not fear."

Nova stands up takes a breath before stepping forward with a sudden burst of confidence "alright come on then you little Dalek bitch exterminate me" Nova says in a strong voice the Dalek scans her "Scans show you are a Time Lord" Nova gives it a smug little smirk "Actually the females prefer to be called Time Ladies" "You must be Exterminated you are an enemy of the Daleks" Nova smirks at it "But you won't shoot me" The Dalek shoots at either side of the bulkhead door. "You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated" it says to Rose.

****

Adam enters and The Doctor glares at Adam "You were quick on your feet, leaving Rose and Nova behind." "I'm not the one who sealed the vault!"

The screen comes back on "Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies." "You're alive!" the Doctor sees Nova smirking in the background Rose answers "Can't get rid of me." "I thought you were dead. I thought

were dead" "Open the bulkhead! Or they both die" the Dalek demands "Don't do it!" Rose tells him "What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?" the Dalek tells him. The Doctor thinks for a moment "I killed them once. I can't do it again." The bulkhead opens. Rose, Nova and the Dalek walkthrough.

"What do we do now, you bleeding heart. What the hell do we do?" "Kill it when it gets here." "All the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault." "Only the cataloged ones," Adam tells them.

****

"Broken. Broken. Hairdryer." the Doctor says going through the items "Mister Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff, and when he does he wipes their memory. I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day." "What, you in a fight? I'd like to see that." "I could do." "What're you going to do, throw your A-Levels at 'em? Oh, yes. Lock and load"

****

"I'm begging you, don't kill them. You didn't kill us" Rose begs the Dalek "But why not? Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?" "Don't move. Don't do anything. It's beginning to question itself."Rose tells them as they walk through the office then the Dalek speaks "Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?" "I wanted to help you. I just, I don't know. I was trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you if we could mend you. I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I swear, I just wanted you to talk! " Van Statten is backed up against the wall.

"Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" Nova rolls her eyes and says in a strong voice strong enough for the Dalek to run a deeper scan "Yeah right you didn't Exterminate me... me out of everyone you won't Exterminate him" 

The Dalek turns its eyepiece to Nova "deeper scan shows you are the Doctors daughter..... How did you survive?" Nova gaining a little more confidence standing her ground a bit "So you were the one that shot me in the back" "Indeed" "Well in that case you didn't do a very good job at Exterminating me..... got me in the left heart... I hit the ground played dead for a few minutes figured hey I look dead maybe nobody will notice if I slip away and my genius plan worked... I got away in a Tardis I plotted a random course and regenerated along the way causing me to crash land somewhere then I did this nifty little trick and turned myself human I mean I had nothing left or so I thought at the time and here we are at a standoff if that's what you want to call this"

Rose looks at me with wide eyes as she says "Don't do it! Don't kill him! You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?" "I want freedom."

The Doctor is running up the stairs with his honking big gun.

****

The Dalek blasts a hole in the roof, and a shaft of sunlight streams down straight onto its eyepiece. "You're out. You made it. I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again." Rose tells it Nova rolls her eyes "How does it feel?"

The Dalek opens its middle and dome sections to reveal the one-eyed mutant within. It holds out a tendril. "Get out of the way. Rose, get out of the way now!" the Doctor tells Rose "No. I won't let you do this." "That thing killed hundreds of people." Nova steps away from Rose and the Dalek "it tried to kill us, Rose, me for the second time might I add" but she ignores her and stays facing the doctor "It's not the one pointing the gun at me."

Nova takes a breath before speaking again looking at Rose with tears in her eyes slightly "Rose that thing that you're protecting or whatever you're doing it killed my mum I saw it" The Doctor looks at her when she said that Rose looked at her too "She was getting me out, the thing about my mother is that she would've done whatever she had to do to make sure I was safe.... She got me a key and was gonna program it to send me somewhere safe until the war was over then she was gonna come and get me but we made it till about 6 foot from the tardis she commandeered the key for and she saw it coming towards me and she screamed at it to leave me alone to get it's attention away from me then I saw it exterminate her then I got hit and went down I was still alive though but I saw her die... she died protecting me, that's nothing new I was the youngest in my family I was her baby" Nova bites her lips wiping the tears from her eyes and taking a breath before continuing "So my point is let him kill it. Let him end this"

"I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left besides her" he points to Nova

"I'm sorry Nova but Look at it." "What's it doing?" Nova shakes her head as the Doctor asked. "It's the sunlight, that's all it wants." Rose tells him "But it can't" "It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me or Nova. It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?"

"I couldn't. I wasn't. Oh, Rose. They're all dead" he looks over at Nova who has a faraway look in her eyes. "Why do we survive?" the Dalek asks "I don't know." "I am the last of the Daleks." "You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating." "Into what?" "Something new. I'm sorry." "Isn't that better?" Nova comes into the conversation now "No, Not for a Dalek." "I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness. Rose, give me orders. Order me to die." "I can't do that."

"This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!" "Do it." Rose finally gives in "Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?" "Yeah." "So am I. Exterminate," it says.

The Dalek shuts its eye. Rose retreats as it closes up its armor again then rises into the air. The balls on its lower body spread out around it creating a forcefield, then it implodes safely.

****

Van Statten is under guard, wherever they came from.

"What the hell are you doing?" Van Statten demands "Two hundred personnel dead, and all because of you, sir. Take him away, wipe his memory, and leave him by the road someplace." "You can't do this to me. I am Henry van Statten!" "And by tonight, Henry van Statten will be a homeless, brainless junkie living on the streets of San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento. Someplace beginning with S" Goddard tells him before they drag him away.

****

"A little piece of home. Better than nothing." The Doctor says "Is that the end of it, the Time War?" Rose asks the last Time Lords the Doctor looks to Nova who he has only discovered was actually his youngest daughter "we're the only ones left. we win. How about that?" Nova sighs "I'm just glad it's finally over" "The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did too." "I'd know. In here." he points to his head "feels like there's no one." But you didn't know about Nova" "That was because I took my Time Lord consciousness and put it in that broken pocket watch it was really a Fob watch the minute I opened it and got everything back he felt it I'm sure of it" "I felt it, heard you scream too" "Just for the record I am never doing that again it is one of the most painful things that you can go through"

Rose nods "Well then, good thing I'm not going anywhere you both have me." "Yeah." Nova smiles "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier" "it's okay Novs" Adam comes in "We'd better get out. Van Statten has disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement. Like it never existed"

"About time." Rose says "I'll have to go back home."Adam says kinda bummed out "Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at fifteen hundred hours" Nova nods "yep so you better get a move on it" "Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars."

"Tell him to go and stand outside, then." the Doctor tells her "He's all on his own, Doctor, and he did help." "He left you down there." "left me down there too" Nova pipes up "So did you." Rose tells the Doctor "What're you talking about? We've got to leave." "Plus, he's a bit pretty." "I hadn't noticed." "On your own head."

The Doctor unlocks the Tardis.

"What're you doing? She said cement. She wasn't joking. We're going to get sealed in." Nova rolls her eyes "Alright how about I settle this that boy is not going anyway near the Tardis because he will do something stupid and that is final"

The Doctor, Nova, and Rose go inside the Tardis. "Doctor? What're you doing standing inside a box? Rose? Nova" Adam asks confused. Nova sticks her head out of the Tardis "Sorry Adam you are finding your own way out and if you don't want to get buried in cement I'd start running"

Nova closes the door to the Tardis and it dematerializes. Right before Adam's eyes.

****

Back in the Tardis Rose gives Nova a look "Really?" she nods "Sorry Ro but he would have just done something stupid so I prevented that" she rolls her eyes " alright then where too?"


	9. The Long Game

The TARDIS just landed somewhere Nova smirks at her father "before we step out there I would just like to formally throw in your face that I am ginger and your not... Now have a nice day" she smiles brightly at him before skipping off of the TARDIS.

The Doctor smiles fondly after her finally knowing he isn't completely alone in the universe. Now he has his daughter back. Rose looks at the Doctor "wow I still can't believe that she is your daughter... I've known Nova since I was 13 and never would I have guessed that she was an alien it's just wow" "You wouldn't have known because what she did made her human completely with no memory of anything that happened before she became human"

The two of them follow Nova out of the TARDIS. 

****

Rose and the Doctor follow Nova out of the Tardis where she is waiting for them. Nova looks at her father "So where are we?"

He smirks at the two of them "the year two hundred thousand, and we are on a spaceship, wait no we are on a space station, Now you two go and try that gate over there."

Rose looks at him questioningly "two hundred thousand?"

"Two hundred thousand" the Doctor confirms. Nova links her arm with Rose's and pulls her towards the gate with the Doctor following behind them.

****

"Come on you two This era has got fine food, good manners."

"Out of the way!" some man demands and suddenly there are a lot of people bustling around, opening up food vending stations and serving customers at their counters.

"Thank you very much indeed. Somebody there? That's great. What do you want, love? All right, keep moving. I'll be with you lot in a minute. Here you are. One at a time. What now, what was it? Kronk Burger with cheese, Kronk burger with pajatos. Do you want a drink? Oi, you, mate. Stop pushing. Get back. I said, back." one of the Chefs calls out to all the people passing by.

"Fine cuisine?" Rose questions looking at the Doctor "My watch must be wrong. No, it's fine. It's weird." Nova smirks teasingly "Your history's not as good as you thought it was." "Oi! My history's perfect." "Well, obviously not," Rose tells him teasingly

Nova looks around questioningly "Why is everybody here human?" The Doctor looks at her "That is a very good question Nova... You two must be starving"

Nova looks at Rose and shrugs "I could go for some food what about you?" Rose nods in agreement. "Oi, mate - how much is a kronkburger?" The Doctor asks the chef "Two credits twenty, sweetheart. Now join the queue" the chef tells him. "Money. We need money. Let's use a cashpoint."

There is an announcement "Attention all staff. All coverage of the Glasgow water riots being transferred five through nine."

The Doctor goes to a Credit Five cashpoint and does something clever with his sonic screwdriver. It produces a plastic card which the Doctor hands to Nova.

"There you go, pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets" Nova rolls her eyes as Rose asks "How does it work?"

"Go and find out, you both have been enough places with me to know that time travel is just like visiting Paris, You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double, and end up kissing complete strangers. Or is that just me? Stop asking questions, go, and do it. Off you go, then."

Nova laughs at her father's explanation of things but grabs Rose by the arm and pulled her off in another direction towards one of the food stations.

****

The Doctor approaches a pair of smartly dressed young women. "Er, this is going to sound daft, but can you tell me where I am?" "Floor One Three Nine. Could they write it any bigger?" one of them tells him "Floor one three nine of what?" The Doctor counters "Must've been a hell of a party."

"You're on Satellite Five." the other one says "What's Satellite Five?" questions the Doctor curiously "Come on, how could you get on board without knowing where you are?"

"Look at me. I'm stupid," he tells her. "Hold on, wait a minute. Are you a test? Some sort of management test kind of thing?" Suki asks

"You've got me. Well done. You're too clever for me." he tells her playing right along The Doctor holds up his psychic paper ID card. "We were warned about this in basic training. All workers have to be versed in company promotion."

"Right, fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor five hundred I'll do anything." the other girl Cathica tells him."Why what happens on Floor five hundred?"

"The walls are made of gold. And you should know, Mister Management. So, this is what we do."

She goes over to a wall monitor and makes an announcement "Latest news, sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. Two hundred dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space lane seventy-seven closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe has just announced he's pregnant."

"I get it. You broadcast the news." "We are the news. We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. Six hundred channels" Cathica tells him.

****

Rose and Nova are sitting at a table trying some of the food when Rose looks up at her "I'm sorry about back at Van Statten's Musem" Nova smiles at her "it's okay Ro seriously you didn't know" Rose nods "Still I'm sorry about your mum" Nova sucks in a breath "don't be the thing about my mum was that she would have stood against all of The Daleks if it meant that she could have protected me"   
  
An alarm sounds as Rose and Nova are finishing up everyone grabs their things and starts to leave. The vendors close up shop.

"Oi! Nova, Rose over here"

They walk into a room where seven people are seated at an octagonal desk around a central chair with wires coming out of it.

Rose, Nova, and the Doctor are observing.

"Now, everybody behave. We have a management inspection. How do you want it, by the book?" Cathica questions. "Right from scratch, thanks," he tells her

"Okay. So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot,- my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni. That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to Floor five hundred praising me, and please do. Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy."

"Actually, it's the law." "Yes, thank you, Suki. Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go."

Cathica settles into the central chair. "And engage safety," She tells them

The seven hold their hands over palm print on the table in front of them. Lights start to come on around the room. Cathica clicks her fingers and a portal opens in her forehead. The seven put their hands into the palm prints.

"And three, two, and spike." A beam of light shines into her portal.

"Compressed information, streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer."

"If it all goes through her, she must be a genius." Nova shakes her head "Nah, she wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much. Her head would blow up. The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets."

"So, what about all these people round the edge?" Rose asks. "They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit six hundred channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place. Now that's what I call power."

****

On floor 500 the computer announces "Analysis confirmed. Security breach." "I knew it. Which one? It's someone inside that room. Which one?" The Editor asks "Isolating breach." "Come on, show me. Who is it?"

****

The Doctor looks at Nova and Rose. "This technology is wrong" "Trouble?" Rose asks. Nova smirks "Oh yeah... don't you just love some good trouble?"

Rose and the Doctor both roll their eyes at the young Time Lady. After Suki told her it was a glitch there is an announcement "Promotion." A wall lights up with the word.

"Come on. This is it. Come on. Oh God, make it, me. Come on, say my name, say my name, say my name." Cathica pleads "Promotion for Suki Macrae Cantrell. Please proceed to Floor five hundred."

"I don't believe it. Floor five hundred." Suki cheers "How the hell did you manage that? I'm above you." "I don't know. I just applied on the off chance and they've said yes." "That's so not fair. I've been applying to Floor five hundred for three years."

"What's Floor five hundred" Nova and Rose both ask "The walls are made of gold," The Doctor tells them.

****

"Cathica, I'm going to miss you. Floor five hundred," Suki tells her then turns to the Doctor "thank you." 

"I didn't do anything," he tells her "Well, you're my lucky charm." "All right. I'll hug anyone." then they hug "All staff are reminded that the sixteen forty break session has been shortened by ten minutes. Thank you" "Oh, my God, I've got to go. I can't keep them waiting. I'm sorry. Say goodbye to Steve for me. Bye!"

The lift door closes.

"Good riddance." Cathica scoffs the Doctor looks at her in confusion "You're talking like you'll never see her again. She's only going upstairs." "We won't. Once you go to Floor five hundred you never come back."

They walk back through the cafeteria. Nova looks at her "Have you ever been up there? To Floor 500?" "I can't. You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to five hundred except for the chosen few." Cathica explains to them.

****

The lift door opens onto an empty, frost-covered area. Suki picks up her bag and walks out, and the lift closes behind her. She gets a torch from her bag and starts to explore. There are other footprints in the rime on the floor. Behind some shredded plastic curtains, she finds a corpse with its forehead portal open and other skeletons seated around it, just like in the broadcast area down on floor 139. A doorway opens and she walks into the light.

"Who're you?" Suki asks him "I'm the Editor." "What's happening? There are bodies out there. What's going on?" "While we're asking questions, would you please confirm your name."

He snaps his fingers, and a holographic monitor appears in mid-air.

"My name is Suki Macrae Cantrell. I was born one nine nine apostrophe eight nine in the Independent Republic of Morocco." "Liar." "Hobbies include reading and archeology. I'm not an expert or anything, I just like digging." "Liar." he repeats "I want to work for Satellite Five because my sister can't afford university, and the pay scheme is really good"

"Liar! Let's look at the facts, shall we?" the Editor states

The image of a woman in camouflage fatigues and brandishing a weapon appears on the holo-monitor. "Ah, hidden behind a genetic graft, but that's still you. Eva Saint Julienne, last surviving member of the Freedom Fifteen. Hmm, self-declared anarchist, is that right?" Suki points a handgun at the Editor.

"Who controls Satellite Five?" She demands "There's the truth!" "The Freedom Foundation has been monitoring Satellite Five's transmissions. We have absolute proof that the facts are being manipulated. You are lying to the people." "Ooo, I love it. Say it again." "This whole system is corrupt. Who do you represent?" "I'm merely a humble slave. I answer to the Editor in Chief."

"Who is he? Where is he?" she demands "He's overseeing everything. Literally everything. If you don't mind, I'm going to have to refer this upwards." Click, and he points upwards. Something growls. "What is that?" "Your boss. This has always been your boss, since the day you were born." Suki fires her small pulse energy gun at whatever is coming down from the ceiling. She screams.

****

Back in the newsroom "Look, they only give us twenty minutes maintenance. Can't you give it a rest?" Cathica asks the three of them. "But you've never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?" the Doctor questions. The Doctor sits in the broadcast chair.

"I went to floor sixteen when I first arrived. That's medical. That's when I got my head done, and then I came straight here. Satellite Five, you work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That's it, that's all. You're not management, are you."

Nova smirk "ohhh At last. She's clever." "Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything." "Where's the fun in that?" "Don't you even ask?" Rose and Nova decide to just sit back and listen. 

"Well, why would I?"

"You're a journalist. Why's all the crew human?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"There are no aliens on board. Why?" the Doctor asks her "I don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything." "Then where are they?"

"I suppose immigration's tightened up. It's had to, what with all the threats." "What threats?" "I don't know all of them. Usual stuff. And the price of space warp doubled so that kept the visitors away. Oh, and the government on Chavic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, you see. Just lots of little reasons, that's all." "Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn't even notice." "Doctor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it. We see everything."

"I can see better. This society's the wrong shape, even the technology." The Doctor tells her

"It's cutting edge." Cathica defends "It's backward. There's a great big door in your head. You should've chucked this out years ago." Nova shakes her head "he's right ya know this is wrong"

Rose looks at him "So, what do you think's going on?"

"It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude. It's the way people think. The great and Bountiful Human Empire is stunted. Something's holding it back." "but the question is what is holding it back?"

"And how would you know?" Cathica asks "Trust me, humanity's been set back about ninety years. When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?" "Ninety-one years ago"

****

The Doctor is using his sonic screwdriver on a pair of double doors.

"We are so going to get in trouble. You're not allowed to touch the mainframe. You're going to get told off."

"Rose, Nova one of you tell her to button it." "You can't just vandalize the place. Someone's going to notice!" Nova smirks "you heard the man button it"

The doors open.

The Doctor is having fun making things go sput amongst the mare's nest of wiring. "This is nothing to do with me. I'm going back to work." "Go on, then. See you!" "I can't just leave you, can I!"

"If you want to be useful, get them to turn the heating down. It's boiling. What's wrong with this place? Can't they do something about it?" Nova looks at her "exactly it's so hot in here that I feel like I'm about to melt into a ginger puddle right here on the floor" Rose snorts at Nova's sass. 

"I don't know. We keep asking. Something to do with the turbine." Cathica replied, "Something to do with the turbine." "Well, I don't know!"

"Exactly. I give up on you, Cathica. Now, Rose. Look at Rose. Rose is asking the right kind of question." "Oh, thank you." "Why is it so hot?" "One minute you're worried about the Empire and the next it's the central heating!" "Well, never underestimate plumbing. Plumbing's very important"

The Doctor produces a monitor with a schematic on it. "Here we go. Satellite Five, pipes and plumbing. Look at the layout." "This is ridiculous. You've got access to the computer's core. You can look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange and you're looking at pipes?" Cathica scoffs "But there's something wrong." the Doctor tells her

"I suppose." Nova looks at her father "Why?"

"what is it?" "The ventilation system. Cooling ducts, ice filters, all working flat out channeling massive amounts of heat down." "All the way from the top." "Floor five hundred."

"Something up there is generating tons and tons of heat." the Doctor says

Rose smirks "Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm missing out on a party. It's all going on upstairs." Nova smirks with her "Fancy a trip? Upstairs?"

"You can't. You need a key." "Keys are just codes, and I've got the codes right here. Here we go. Override two one five-point nine." the Doctor tells her

The monitor shows 215.9976/31

"How come it's given you the code?"

Nova smirks at her "I guess someone upstairs just likes him" Rose looks at her " Come on. Come with us." "No way." Cathica denies "Bye!" "Well, don't mention my name. When you get in trouble, just don't involve me." Cathica leaves. "That's her gone. Looks like it's just you two and me." "Yeah." "Good." "Yep"

****

The lift opens on floor 500 The Doctor looks at Nova and Rose "The walls are not made of gold. You should go back downstairs. Both of you"

Rose gives him a look "Tough."

"Yeah what she said we aren't backing down now," Nova says with her usual smirk

They find the Editor and his staff.

"I started without you. This is fascinating. Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you three, you don't exist. Not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?"

Rose sees Suki "Suki. Suki! Hello? Can you hear me? Suki? What have you done to her?" Nova looks at her "I think she's dead."

"But she's working," Rose says

"They've all got chips in their head, and the chips keep going, like puppets." The Doctor tells her

"Oh! You're full of information. But it's only fair we get some information back because apparently, you're no one. It's so rare not to know something. Who are you?" the editor asks interested "It doesn't matter because we're off. Nice to meet you. Come on."

Suki grabs Rose's arm. Two other zombies grab the Doctor and Nova.

"Tell me who you are." the Editor demands "Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly going to say, am I."

"Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise."

"And who's that?" "It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans happen to live." there a growl and a snarl and he corrects himself "Yeah. Yeah, sorry. It's a place where humans are allowed to live by kind permission of my client."

Who we finally see is a giant lump hanging from the ceiling, with a very nasty set of teeth in a mouth on the end of a pseudopod.

"What is that?" Rose asks while Nova scrunches her nose up "whatever it is it's ugly as all hell"

"You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?" The Doctor asks

"That thing, as you put it, is in charge of the human race. For almost a hundred years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by its broadcast news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe. I call him Max."

Down on Floor 139, Cathica goes to take another look at the schematic that the Doctor called up. Then she goes to the lift and punches in the code for Floor 500. Meanwhile, the Doctor, Nova, and Rose have been placed in hefty sets of manacles.

"Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilize an economy, invent an enemy, change a vote."

"So all the people on Earth are like slaves."

"Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave, a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?" "Yes." Nova and the Doctor answer at the same time.

"Oh. I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? Yes?"

"Yes." they both answer again

"You're no fun." the editor tells him "Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am." The Editor looks at him "Oh, he's tough, isn't he? But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit."

"You can't hide something on this scale. Somebody must have noticed."

"From time to time, someone, yes, but the computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt and crush it."

Cathica arrives on Floor 500. Nova, The Doctor, and Rose spot Cathica behind the Editor's back.

Rose looks at him "What about you? You're not a Jagrabelly" Nova snorts as the Doctor corrects "Jagrafess." "Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess. You're human." "Yeah, well, simply being human doesn't pay very well." "But you couldn't have done this all on your own." "No. I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to install himself."

"No wonder, a creature that size. What's his life span?" the Doctor asks "Three thousand years." the editor tells them.

"That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, it stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system"

"But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown. Who are you? The Editor tells him. The Editor snaps his fingers and energy surges through the manacles.

"Leave her alone. I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler and she's my daughter Nova. We're nothing, we're just wandering." "Tell me who you are!" the editor demands

"I just said!" "Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly"

Rose cried out in pain the energy still surging through her manacles. The Doctor gritted his teeth before finally giving in "I'm a Time Lord"

The Editor looks at him in surprise "ohh the last of the Time Lords and if the redhead is your daughter I have the last two remaining Time Lords locked uptight and let's not forget you're little human girl from so long ago and of course you're traveling machine. You have infinite knowledge, don't you Doctor? The human empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in whatever it is you use"

"Well, you'll never get your hands on it. I'll die first." the Editor shrugged "Die all you like, I don't need you" he stepped forward and grabbed something on Rose's neck and he jerked it forward snapping the chain that Rose had kept the TARDIS key. Nova and the Doctor both glared at the Editor as Rose wheezed trying to catch her breath. "I've got the key, Today, we are the headlines. We can rewrite history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing."

"And no one's going to stop you because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughterhouse if they're told it's made of gold."

The Jagrafess snarls and Cathica leaves and walked up to the broadcast chair on floor 500 and tossed a corpse off of it. She sat down. "Disengage safety," she said and they heard the electronics go off "Maximum access. Override Floor 139. And spike!"

"Someone's disengaged the safety. Who's that?" The Editor asks He calls the image upon the holo-monitor.

Nova smirks "It's Cathica." "And she's thinking. She's using what she knows." "Terminate her access." the Editor demands "Everything I told her about Satellite Five. The pipes, the filters, she's reversing it. Look at that."

The icicles are starting to melt. Nova smirks "It's getting hot." The editor turns to Suki "I said, terminate. Burn out her mind" Cathica chuckled darkly "Oh no, you don't. You should have promoted me years back"

The consoles explode and the dead operators collapse. Alarms sound in the rest of Satellite Five and people panic. Rose gets out of her manacles.

"She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano." the Doctor grinned proudly "Yes, I'm trying, sir, but I don't know how she did it. It's impossible. A member of staff with an idea." The Editor takes Suki's seat while Rose tries to free the Doctor. She gets the sonic screwdriver from his pocket.

"What do I do?" "Flick the switch! Oi, mate, want to bank on a certainty? Massive heat in a massive body, massive bang. See you in the headlines!" Finally free, the Doctor, Nova, and Rose leave.

"Actually, sir, if it's all the same to you, I think I'll resign. Bye, then! "Suki grabs his ankle and he falls. "Let go of me!"

The Doctor, Nova, and Rose run for the broadcast as chunks of ice fall from the ceiling, the satellite shudders, and the Jagrafess growls. "Let go of me! Let go of me!" the editor demands as the Jagrafess explodes. The Doctor snaps his fingers and closes Cathica's portal.

****

As dawn rises over Mother Earth, the people on level 139 are helping the injured. "We're just going to go. I hate tidying up. Too many questions. You'll manage." the Doctor told Cathica as they headed for the TARDIS.

"You'll have to stay and explain it. No one's going to believe me." "Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now. The human race should accelerate. All back to normal."

They say goodbye to Cathica as they walk into the TARDIS. Nova looks at Rose and her father "It is a very good thing that I wouldn't let Adam on the TARDIS because he would have done something extremely stupid here and most likely gotten us all killed"

The Doctor snorted "You got that right" Nova and Rose burst out laughing as the TARDIS dematerialized. ********

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is 'The Long Game' hope you guys like it next is 'Father's Day'. I am also thinking of Nova and Captain Jack having a little fling or something when he comes into the series what do you guys think? It'll just be for the episodes that he's in.


	10. Fathers Day

Nova, Rose and The Doctor are standing in a Register office watching Rose's parents get married.

"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Angela Suzette Prentice"

"I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Suzanne Suzette Anita" he tried to say but a younger Jackie cuts him off "Oh, just carry on. It's good enough for Lady Di."

"I thought he'd be taller," Rose said quietly to herself and Nova looks at her best friend a little worried about her.

The registrar continues "To be my lawful wedded wife, to love and behold till death us do part"

****

Back in the Tardis Rose is talking about the day her dad died. "Mum said It was a hit and run driver. Never found out who. He was dead when the ambulance got there. I only wish there'd been someone there for him I want to be that someone, so he doesn't die alone."

The Doctor looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before sighing "November the 7th?" he said double-checking the date.

"1987" Rose added.

The Doctor nodded and pulled a lever and they were off to 1987 for Rose.

****

Rose stepped out of the Tardis and looked surprised when she saw the sky " It's so weird. The day my father died. I thought it'd be all sort of grim and stormy. It's just an ordinary day." Nova and the Doctor stepped out behind her

"The past is another country. 1987's just the Isle of Wight." Nova gives her best friend a look Rose, are you sure about this?" Rose took a deep breath before answering "Yeah."

****

Rose looks at me "This is it. Jordan Road. He was late. He'd been to get a wedding present, a vase. Mum always said, that stupid vase." A green van comes around the corner. D602 PKW "He got out of his car." she continues, It pulls into the curb "And crossed the road."

Rose pauses "Oh, God. This is it." As Pete gets out of the van, the Doctor takes Rose's hand and Nova puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. A beige car comes round the corner - NEH 793W - and straight into Pete. The driver shields his face with his arm and keeps going, leaving Pete and the broken vase in the middle of the road. Pete tries to move.

The Doctor looks at her "Go to him, quick." But she can't. Later, round the corner, as sirens approach. "It's too late now. By the time the ambulance got there, he was dead. He can't die on his own. Can I try again?" The three of them look round the corner to see themselves by the kerbside.

The Doctor looks at her "Right, that's the first us. It's a very bad idea, two sets of us being here at the same time. Just be careful they don't see us. Wait till she runs off and they follow, then go to your dad."

Rose nods before saying " I can't do this."

The Doctor gives her a look "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but this is the last time we can be here." Rose runs forward as Pete is getting out of the van

"Rose! No! " Nova and the Doctor both yell out after her.

Rose dashes past her earlier self and pushes her father out of the path of the beige car. The vase rolls away, unbroken. The earlier Doctor, Rose, and Nova vanish.

****

Rose looks at her father " I did it. I saved your life." Pete looks at her "Blimey, did you see the speed of it? Did you get his number?" Rose still in relative shock at what she just did "I really did it. Oh, my God, look at you. You're alive! That car was going to kill you."

"Give me some credit, I did see it coming. I wasn't going to walk under it, was I." Rose smiles at him "I'm Rose." "That's a coincidence. That's my daughter's name." "That's a great name. Good choice. Well done."

"Right, I'd better shift. I've got a wedding to go to." "Is that Sarah Clarke's wedding?" Rose questions "Yeah, are you going?" Pete asks her.

"Yeah." "You, your boyfriend and friend need a lift?" Something with blood-red eyesight flies over South London.

****

"Right, there we go. Sorry about the mess. If you want a cup of tea, the kitchens just down there milk's in the fridge. Well, it would be, wouldn't it? Where else would you put the milk? Mind you, there's always the window sill outside. I always thought if someone invented a window sill with special compartments, you know, one for milk, one for yogurt, make a lot of money out of that. Sell it to students and things. I should write that down. Anyway, never mind that, excuse me for a minute. Got to go and change." Pete goes to the bedroom.

Rose looks around "All the stuff mum kept. His stuff. She kept it all packed away in boxes in the cupboard. She used to show me when she'd had a bit to drink. Here it is, on display. Where it should be. Third prize at the bowling. First, two got to go to Didcot. Health drinks. Tonics, mum used to call them. He made his money selling this Vitex stuff. He had all sorts of jobs. He was so clever. Solar power. Mum said he was going to do this. Now he can." Rose notices the look she is getting from the Doctor "Okay, look I'll tell him you're not my boyfriend."

Nova gives her a look as well "That's not the point Rose"

The Doctor tells her "When we met, I said travel with me in space. You said no. Then I said time machine." "It wasn't some big plan. I just saw it happening and I thought, I can stop it." Rose defends.

"I did it again. I picked another stupid ape. I should've known. It's not about showing you the universe. It never is. It's about the universe doing something for you." Nova cuts in "Technically if you didn't offer Rose a trip with you we wouldn't have known about me"

But they both just ignore her "So it's okay when you go to other times, and you save people's lives, but not when it's me saving my dad." "I know what I'm doing, you don't. Two sets of us being there made that a vulnerable point."

"But he's alive!" Rose exclaims

"My entire planet died. My whole family. Except for Nova. Do you think it never occurred to me to go back and save them?"

"But it's not like I've changed history. Not much. I mean he's never going to be a world leader. He's not going to start World War Three or anything." Rose argues "Rose, there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. An ordinary man. That's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive."

"What, would you rather him dead?" "I'm not saying that." "No, I get it! For once, you're not the most important man in my life." NOva rolls her eyes at Rose being stubborn and dramatic. "Let's see how you get on without me, then. Give me the key. The Tardis key. If I'm so insignificant, give it back to me." "All right then, I will." Rose gives him the key back.

"You've got what you wanted, so that's goodbye, then." Rose glares "You don't scare me. I know how sad you are. You'll be back in a minute, or you'll hang around outside the Tardis waiting for me. And I'll make you wait a long time!" The Doctor leaves and Rose slams the door behind him.

Nova pinches the bridge of her nose before exhaling "You just have to be so damn stubborn don't you?" Nova turns to walk out the door, Rose calls out "Where are you going?" Nova turns to look at her "I am going to go and find my dad"

Nova walks out of the flat without another word setting off to find her father.

****

Nova finds her father by the Tardis she walks in behind him "We aren't actually going to leave her here are we?" He gives her a look that says 'what do you think' Nova shrugs "I was just making sure"

Nova looks at one of the monitors "Uhh dad we have a problem" he looks at her in surprise because that is the first time she's called him dad since they found out that she was his daughter "what is it?" She points to the time wraith on the monitor "Oh that is a problem.. Come on we gotta go and save the day"

We run out of the Tardis and towards the church where the wedding is being held "Rose!" Nova yells running up behind her the Doctor looks at them coming up beside Nova "Get in the church!" A large thing with bat-like wings appears in the sky. Very devilish. It hisses and starts to swoop. Rose screams. The Doctor pushes her to the pavement just in time to avoid its talons.

Nova looks at her best friend "Get in the church!" Two more appear.

The woman standing there with them looks horrified "Oh, my God. What are they? What are they?"

"Inside!" The Doctor instructs

"Sarah!" Nova looks at him "Stay in there!"

Stuart's dad tries to run away, but he gets pounced on. Another blocks Sarah's path to the church, but when she screams it flies off and pounces on the vicar instead. "In!" The Doctor instructs them again

*****

The Doctor gets the bride's party inside and slams the doors on the creatures. They can be seen flying around outside.

"They can't get in. Old windows and doors. Okay. The older something is, the stronger it is. What else?" Nova looks at Jackie "Go and check the other doors! Move!"

Jackie looks confused "What's happening? What are they? What are they?" "There's been an accident in time. A wound in time. They're like bacteria, taking advantage." The Doctor tries to explain.

"What do you mean, time? What're you jabbering on about, time?" Nova snickers as her dad tells Jackie "Oh, I might've known you'd argue. Jackie, I'm sick of you complaining." She looks at him "How do you know my name?"

"I haven't got time for this."

"I've never met you in my life!" Jackie persists "No, and you never will unless I sort this out. Now, if you don't mind, I've waited a long time to say this. Jackie Tyler, do as I say. Go and check the doors."

"Yes, sir," she tells him and goes to do what he asked. "I should have done that ages ago." Nova snickers "wow who would have known that Jacks would ever actually listen to you dad"

Stuart the man getting married walks over "My dad was out there." "You can mourn him later. Right now we've got to concentrate on keeping ourselves alive."

"My dad had" he tries again but the Doctor cuts him off "There's nothing I can do for him."

"No, but he had this phone thing. I can't get it to work. I keep getting this voice."

"Watson, come here. I need you. Watson, come here. I need you." "That's the very first phone call. Alexander Graham Bell." Nova cuts in "well I don't think the telephone's going to be much use." "But someone must have called the police."

"Police can't help you now. No one can. Nothing in this universe can harm those things. Time's been damaged and they've come to sterilize the wound. By consuming everything inside." The Doctor tells him. Rose looks at Nova and the Doctor "Is this because? Is this my fault?"

****

Nova and Rose are standing by the altar when Pete comes out of the vestry. Pete looks at Rose "This mate of yours. What did he mean, this is your fault?" "Don't know. Just everything." Rose tells him.

"I gave you my car keys. You don't give your keys to a complete stranger. It's, it's like I trusted you. The moment I met you, I just did. a wound in time. You called me Dad. I can see it. My eyes, Jackie's attitude. You sound like her when you shout. You are. You are. You're my Rose. You're my Rose grown up." They hug, in tears.

"Dad. My Dad. My Daddy." Nova smiles at the two and walks away to give them their moment.

Meanwhile, a creature is head-butting a side door. The Doctor pulls the curtain aside and gets out his sonic screwdriver and Nova walks up beside him.

Stuart walks up "Excuse me, Mister" "Doctor." the Doctor corrects "You seem to know what's going on." "I give that impression, yeah." "I just wanted to ask" "Can you save us?" Sarah his soon to be wife asks finishing for him.

"Who are you two, then?" the Doctor asks the two

"Stuart Hoskins."

"Sarah Clark."

Nova smiles at the couple and says "And one extra. Boy or girl?" Sarah smiles "I don't know. I don't want to know, really." "How did all this get started?" the Doctor asks.

"Outside the Beatbox Club, two in the morning." "Street corner. I'd lost my purse, didn't have money for a taxi." "I took her home." "Then what? Asked her for a date?" "Wrote his number on the back of my hand." "Never got rid of her since. My dad said." "I don't know what this is all about, and I know we're not important."

The Doctor looks at them "Who said you're not important? I've traveled to all sorts of places, done things you couldn't even imagine, but you two. Street corner, two in the morning, getting a taxi home. I've never had a life like that. Yes. I'll try and save you."

****

The Doctor is talking to baby Rose in her carrycot by the choir stalls while Nova sits beside him with a smile on her face.

"Now, Rose you're not going to bring about the end of the world, are you? Are you?" Rose walks up. "Jackie gave her to me to look after. How times change." the Doctor tells her "I'd better be careful. I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken." Nova laughs "that sounds like Mickey," Rose goes to touch the baby.

The Doctor stops her "No. Don't touch the baby. You're both the same person. That's a paradox, and we don't want a paradox happening, not with these things outside. Anything new, any disturbance in time makes them stronger. The paradox might let them in."

Rose looks at him "Can't do anything right, can I?" "Since you ask, no. So, don't touch the baby." "I'm not stupid," Rose tells him.

"You could have fooled me. All right, I'm sorry. I wasn't really going to leave you on your own." The Doctor tells her and Nova cuts in "I wasn't going to let him leave you here on your own" "I know." Rose says looking at both Nova and the Doctor.

"But between the three of us, I haven't got a plan. No idea. No way out." "You'll think of something." Rose tells him and Nova agrees "Yeah she's right you'll figure it out dad" the Doctor smiles at his daughter then looks at Rose as well "The entire Earth's been sterilized. This, and other places like it, are all that's left of the human race. We might hold out for a while, but nothing can stop those creatures. They'll get through in the end. The walls aren't that old. And there's nothing I can do to stop them. There used to be laws stopping this kind of thing from happening."

Nova smiles sadly at her dad then looks at Rose "Our people would have stopped this. But they're all gone now except us and now we're going the same way."

Rose looks at him "If I'd realized." "Just tell me you're sorry." the Doctor tells her "I am. I'm sorry."

Nova smiles as they hug.

"Have you got something hot?" Rose questions having felt something hot She reaches into his inside pocket, takes out a key and drops it because it is glowing hot. "It's the Tardis key!" the Doctor tells them happily He takes off his jacket to pick it up safely. "It's telling me it's still connected to the Tardis."

The Doctor makes an announcement from the pulpit.

"The inside of my ship was thrown out of the wound but we can use this to bring it back. And once I've got my ship back, then I can mend everything. Now, I just need a bit of power. Has anybody got a battery?" The Doctor tells them.

Stuart picks up the mobile phone. "This one big enough?" Nova smiles really wide as her dad says "Fantastic." "Good old dad. There you go." Stuart says.

"Just need to do a bit of charging up and then we can bring everyone back." He uses the ever-versatile sonic screwdriver while the creatures batter at the doors. Pete and Rose have a quiet chat.

Nova is standing by her father giving Rose a chance to talk to her dad. The Tardis slowly materializes around her key.

"Right, no one touches that key. Have you got that? Don't touch it. Anyone touches that key, it'll be, well, zap. Just leave it be and everything will be fine. We'll get out of here. All of us. Stuart, Sarah you're going to get married, just like I said." The Doctor tells them.

Outside, the car repeats its brief drive around the corner. Inside, the Tardis is fading in and out.

Nova and her dad are standing by Rose and Pete "When time gets sorted out" Rose starts but Nova cuts her off "Everybody here forgets what happened." The DOctor looks at her " Don't worry, the thing that you changed will stay changed."

"You mean I'll still be alive, though I'm meant to be dead. That's why I haven't done anything with my life, why I didn't mean anything." Pete says cutting in "It doesn't work like that." the Doctor tells him.

"Rubbish. I'm so useless I couldn't even die properly. Now it's my fault all of this has happened." "This is my fault." Tells him but Pete corrects her " "No, love. I'm your dad. It's my job for it to be my fault."

Jackie comes up "Her dad? How are you her dad? How old were you, twelve? Oh, that's disgusting." "Jacks, listen. This is Rose." Pete tries to explain to her but she isn't having that "Rose? How sick is that? You give my daughter a second-hand name? How many are there? Do you call them all Rose?"

"Oh, for God's sake, look. It's the same Rose!" Pete exclaims and takes baby Rose from Jackie and hands her to Rose.

Nova looks at them wide eyes as the Doctor yells out "Rose! No!" The Doctor snatches her away too late and gives her back to Jackie. A creature appears inside the Church.

"Everyone, behind me! I'm the oldest thing here." The Doctor tells them.

"Doctor!" Rose calls out while Nova who has tears in her eyes calls out "NO! Daddy No" as the creature pounces on the Doctor, then flies over to the Tardis. They touch, the Tardis and the creature vanish, and the key falls to the floor. Rose runs to pick it up.

"It's cold. The key's cold. Oh, my God, he's dead. This is all my fault. Both of you. All of you. The whole world."

Nova is just staring off into the distance where her dad and the creature disappeared with tears in her eyes she had just got her dad back and now she's lost him again and this time for good because the Time Wraith erased him.

****

Pete runs out of the church, clutching the vase. A creature spots him. He runs to the corner, where the car appears. The driver flings his arm across his face.

"Goodbye, love." Thump! The vase drops and breaks. The creatures vanish.

****

"Go to him. Quick." the Doctor tells her

****

Rose runs to her dying father. This time, the driver has stopped at the scene. Pete dies gazing into Rose's eyes

****

Rose kisses Pete farewell then stands up and looks at the Doctor and Nova we hear Rose off-camera "Peter Alan Tyler, my dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Died the 7th of November, 1987."

The Tardis has relocated to outside the Tandoori across the road. The Doctor, Nova, and Rose walk away.

****

Once back in the Tardis Nova hugs her father "I thought I lost you again" he hugs his daughter back "I'm right here Nova... you're not getting rid of me that easy" She smiles at him as they take off towards their next destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since the Empty Child is next and that is where Jack makes his first appearance I was thinking about having Nova be the one to follow the child instead of Rose so it's Nova that he meets first. What do you guys think?


	11. The Empty Child

The Tardis is in pursuit of a small spacecraft. Rose looks at the Doctor "What's the emergency?" "It's mauve." He tells her she looks at him questioningly "Mauve?"

Nova rolls her eyes at her best friend " yes Ro Mauve the universally recognized color for danger." "What happened to red?" Rose asks the two Time Lords the Doctor and Nova both smirk as Nova lets her father answer the question "That's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing. It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the Tardis. Where it goes, we go."

"And that's safe, is it?" Rose asks cautiously "Totally." The Doctor tells her as there is a bang Nova bursts out laughs as the Doctor corrects himself "Okay, reasonably. Should have said reasonably there. No, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us." "What exactly is this thing?" the blonde questions

The Doctor shrugs "No idea." "Then why are we chasing it?" Rose asks incredulously "It's mauve and dangerous, and about thirty seconds from the center of London." The Doctor answers Nova smirks at the blonde "Duh Ro why else would we be chasing it?"

****

The Tardis materializes in a back alley between two terraces. The sort of crowded housing that no longer exists.

The Doctor looks at Nova and Rose "Do you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?" "Five days? Or is that just when we're out of milk?" Rose asks in a slightly joking manner Nova snorts out a laugh.

"Of all the species in all the Universe and it has to come out of a cow." Nova laughs again "right? Why cows?" Something is watching them from above.

"Must have come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month." Rose looks surprised "A month? We were right behind it."

Nova lets her father explain it to Rose "It was jumping time tracks all over the place. We're bound to be a little bit out. Do you want to drive?" "Yeah. How much is a little?" Rose once again questions. "A bit." The Doctor tells her vaguely "Is that exactly a bit?" Nova snorts again as her dad answers "Ish"

Rose rolls her eyes "What's the plan, then? Are you going to do a scan for alien tech or something?" "Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm going to ask." The Doctor shows Rose and Nova his psychic paper ID for the occasion.

"Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids." Rose reads from the paper "It's psychic paper. It tells you" Rose cuts him off "Whatever you want it to tell me, I remember." They come to a door marked Deliveries Only.

"Sorry."

"Not very Spock is it, just asking," Rose tells him

The Doctor looks at them "Door, music, people. What do you think?" Rose looks at him "I think you should do a scan for alien tech. Give me some Spock, for once. Would it kill you?" Nova laughs "sorry Ro but not a chance"

(Nova will be wearing the Union Flag top instead of Rose because she's the one that meets Jack first)

The Doctor opens the door with the sonic screwdriver and looks at his daughters Union Flag top. "Are you sure about that t-shirt? Nova?" she shrugs "Too early to say. I'm taking it out for a spin."

Nova hears "Mummy? Mummy?" she glances around

The Doctor looks at them "Come on if you're coming. It won't take a minute." The Doctor and Rose go inside. "Mummy?" Nova hears again then she sees a little boy in a gas mask up on a nearby roof. "Rose? Dad? There's a kid up there!" but she notices that they both have already gone into the building.

****

"Are you all right up there?" Nova calls out to the child, but the only reply is "Mummy?" Nova runs up a metal fire escape staircase.

Nova gets to a flat roof. The child is still above her. "Mummy?" "Okay, hang on. Don't move!" Nova tells him. Suddenly a rope dangles down in front of Rose. She takes hold of it and pulls. It seems secure.

Nova is using the rope to help her climb up to the child. "Mummy. Balloon!" the child says. The barrage balloon drifts, pulling Nova away from the wall and the child and dangling her over the alleyway.

"Dad! Dad! Dad!" Searchlights comb the sky. Explosions and fires start in various parts of London. A squadron of German planes heads for her. Nova mutters to herself "Okay, maybe not this t-shirt"

****

The Doctor looks at Rose "where's Nova?" she shrugs "she didn't follow us into the nightclub then A cat meows.

"You know, one day, just one day, maybe, I'm going to meet someone who gets the whole don't wander off thing. Nine hundred years of phone box travel, it's the only thing left to surprise me. Not mention it was my own daughter that wandered off" The Tardis police telephone rings. He opens the small door. 

Rose looks at him surprised as the Doctor looks at the phone confused "How can you be ringing? What's that about, ringing? What am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?"

He gets out his sonic screwdriver. A young woman has walked up the alley. "Don't answer it. It's not for you." The Doctor looks at her "And how do you know that?" "'Cos, I do. And I'm telling you, don't answer it." The woman tells him "Well if you know so much, tell me this. How can it be ringing? It's not even a real phone. It's not connected, it's not"

Nancy has gone, so he answers the phone. Rose shakes her head at him because the woman clearly just said not to answer the phone "Hello? Hello? This is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?" "Mummy? Mummy?" the child says through the phone "Who is this? Who's speaking?"

"Are you my mummy?" "Who is this?" the Doctor asks again "Mummy?" the child says again "How did you ring here? This isn't a real phone. It's not wired up to anything." The Doctor tries again but the child just says "Mummy?" then the dial tone starts and The Doctor knocks on the Tardis door. "Nova? Nova are you in there?"

Rose looks at him "I don't think she's in there" they hear a noise and they both run out of the alley.

****

They hear a woman talking "The planes are coming. Can't you hear them? Into the shelter. None of your nonsense, now move it!" The Doctor climbs onto a dustbin and looks over the wall into a back garden, where a well-fed middle-aged woman is shepherding a young boy into an air-raid shelter.

"Come on, hurry up, get in there. Come on. Arthur! Arthur, Will you hurry up? Didn't you hear the siren?" the woman says again. Her equally well-fed husband comes out of the house. "Middle of dinner, every night. Blooming Germans. Don't you eat?" her husband says

"I can hear the planes!" "Don't you eat?" her husbands asks the planes very loudly "Oh, keep your voice down, will you? It's an air raid! Get in. Look, there's a war on." The woman tells him "I know there's a war on. Don't push me." He snaps.

With the family safely in the shelter, the Doctor watches Nancy enter the garden and go into the house. Once in the kitchen, she starts taking tinned goods from a cupboard.

Meanwhile, dangling over the Thames near St Paul's, Nova has an excellent view of a typical night raid during the Blitz.

****

An officer in a greatcoat stands on a balcony using a pair of very non-WW2 binoculars. He spots Nova in her predicament.

"Get those lights out, please. Everyone down to the shelter." An officer says then Algy looks at the other officer "Jack? Are you going down to the shelter? Only I've got to go off on some silly guard duty. Ah, barrage balloon, eh? Must've come loose. Happens now and then. Don't you RAF boys use them for target practice?" Jack zooms in on Nova's butt and speaks with an American accent. "Excellent bottom."

Algy looks at him "I say, old man, there's a time and a place. Look, you should really be off." Jack smirks at him "Sorry, old man. I've got to go meet a girl. But you've got an excellent bottom too"

****

Nancy finishes filling her little sack with provisions and heads for the front door. In the hallway, she stops and looks into another room and smiles, then goes outside into the street, where she whistles twice then goes back inside. A pair of urchins run in to see the feast she's discovered.

"Many kids out there?" Nancy asks one of the kinds Jim answers "Yes, miss." Jim and his friend dive for the food. "Ah! Still carving. Sit and wait. We've got the whole air raid." Nancy tells the kids "Look at that. Bet it's off the black market." "That's enough"

****

High over Westminster, Rose finally loses her grip on the thick rope. Screaming, she falls and is caught in a beam. "Okay, okay, I've got you." Jack tells her Nova rolls her eyes "Who's got me? What's got me, and you know, how?"

"I'm just programming your descent pattern. Keep as still as you can and keep your hands and feet inside the light field." He tells her and Nova smirks "what you gonna pull me up with a damn tractor beam or something?"

"Something like that oh, and could you switch off your cell phone? No, seriously, it interferes with my instrument." Nova rolls her eyes "You know, no one ever believes that." But Nova turns off her phone anyway.

"Thank you. That's much better." Nova snorts "Oh, yeah, that's a real load off, that is. I'm hanging in the sky in the middle of a German air raid with the Union Jack across my chest, but hey, my cell phone's off" "Be with you in a moment." Jack tells her.

"The mobile communication device indicates a non-contemporaneous life form." The computer on Jacks ship says, "She's not from around here, no. Ready for you?" Then Jack presses the intercom button again "Hold tight!" Nova rolls her eyes again "To what? Exactly?" "Fair point" then Nova is hurtled down the light field into Jack's arms.

"I've got you. You're fine, you're just fine. The tractor beam, it can scramble your head just a little." Jack tells her. Nova smiles at him "Hello." "Hello." Jack smirks "Hello. Sorry, that was hello twice there. Dull, but you know, thorough." Nova tells him still a bit dazed from the tractor beam.

"Are you, all right?" Nova shrugs him off "Fine." Jack puts Nova down. "Why, are you expecting me to faint or something?" she challenges with a raised eyebrow "You look a little dizzy," he tells her "I'll be fine in a minute it's been a while since I've been caught in a tractor beam" Jack laughs at the girl's answer.

****

Something watches two more small boys run down the street to join the feast.

"It's got to be black market. You couldn't get all this on coupons." "Ernie, how many times? We are guests in this house. We will not make comments of that kind." Nancy scolds the boy before looking at the children "Washing up." The children laugh.

The boy Ernie looks at her "Oh, Nancy"

"Haven't seen you at one of these before." She says to another boy "He told me about it." The boy says pointing to another boy "Sleeping rough?" Nancy asks the boy "Yes, miss." he answers her back politely

"All right, then. One slice each, and I want to see everyone chewing properly." Nancy tells the children A plate of slices of meat is handed round.

"Thank you, miss." Jim, Ernie, and the other boy say to her as the meat is passed around then the Doctor says "Thanks, miss!" as she gets to him and Rose, the other children panic.

"It's all right. Everybody stay where you are!" Nancy tells them "Good here, innit? Who's got the salt?" The Doctor asks Rose rolls her eyes at his dramatics but for once she decides not to but in

"Back in your seats. They shouldn't be here either." Nancy tells the children "So, you lot, what's the story?" the Doctor asks addressing the children "What do you mean?" Ernie asks him "You're homeless, right? Living rough?" the Doctor asked a little more clearly.

Jim looks at him "Why do you want to know that? Are you, coppers?" The Doctor looks at the boy "Of course, we're not coppers. What's a copper going to do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving? I make it 1941. You lot shouldn't even be in London. You should've been evacuated to the country by now."

"I was evacuated. Sent me to a farm." One of the boys tells them Rose finally speaks up "So why'd you come back?" "There was a man there," the boy says "Yeah, same with Ernie. Two homes ago." Jim tells them "Shut up. It's better on the streets anyway. It's better food." Ernie says.

"Yeah. Nancy always gets the best food for us." Jim agrees. The Doctor looks at Nancy "So, that's what you do, is it, Nancy?" "What is?" she questions back.

"As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all, as long as the bombs don't get you." The Doctor tells her

"Something wrong with that?" Nancy asks giving him a questioning look "Wrong with it? It's brilliant. I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical."

Nancy looks at the Doctor and Rose "Why'd you follow me? What do you want?" the Doctor looks at her "I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call. You seem to be the one to ask."

"I did you a favor. I told you not to answer it, that's all I'm telling you." Nancy tells him "Great, thanks." He tells her then continues "And we want to find a redhead in a Union Jack. I mean a specific one. I didn't just wake up this morning with a craving. Anybody seen a girl like that?"

Nancy takes the Doctor's plate away. "What have I done wrong?" he asks her "You took two slices. No redheads, no flags. Anything else before you leave?"

"Yeah, there is actually. Thanks for asking. Something I've been looking for. Would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind, anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Probably would have just buried itself in the ground somewhere, and it would have looked something like this"

The Doctor holds up a rough sketch of the craft the Tardis was following. Basically, a tube. A knock on the door makes everyone jump.

They hear the same child from the phone earlier "Mummy? Are you in there, mummy?" The Doctor looks out of the window. It's the boy in the gas mask.

"Mummy?" the child asks again "Who was the last one in," Nancy asks the children "Them" Ernie points to the Doctor and Rose.

Nancy shakes her head "No, they came round the back. Who came in the front?" "Me," Alf tells her "Did you close the door?" she asks he looks unsure "Er" "Did you close the door?" Nancy asks again

"Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?" they hear the child again. Nancy runs into the hallway and bolts the front door. "What's this, then? It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know." "I suppose you'd know." "I do actually, yes."

Nancy looks at him "It's not exactly a child." "Mummy?" the child asks again "Right, everybody out. Across the back garden and under the fence. Now! Go! Move!" Nancy tells the children.

The children grab their coats and flee. Nancy speaks to the sole remaining little girl, who can't be more than four. "Come on, baby, we've got to go, all right? It's just like a game. Just like chasing. Take your coat, go on. Go!"

"Mummy? Mummy? Please let me in, mummy. Please let me in, mummy." The child pleads. A little hand comes through the letterbox.

"Are you all right?" Rose asks the child "Please let me in." the child says.

Nancy throws something that breaks, and the hand withdraws. "You mustn't let him touch you!" the Doctor looks at her "What happens if he touches us?

"He'll make you like him." "And what's he like?" The Doctor and Rose both ask

"I've got to go," Nancy tells them. The Doctor calls out to her "Nancy, what's he like?" "He's empty," Nancy tells them. The telephone rings. "It's him. He can make phones ring. He can. Just like with that police box you saw." The Doctor picks up the phone.

"Are you my mummy?" the child asks once again. Nancy puts the phone back on the hook. The radio starts up in the dining room"

"Mummy? Please let me in, mummy." Then a clockwork monkey starts up. "Mummy, mummy, mummy." "You two stay if you want to" Nancy leaves by the back door. The boy puts his hand through the letterbox again. There is a scar on the back of it.

"Mummy? Let me in please, mummy. Please let me in." "Your mummy isn't here." The Doctor tells him "Are you, my mummy?"

"No mummies here. Nobody here but us chickens." Rose gives him a look "Well, this chicken." He corrects. "I'm scared." The child says "Why are those other children frightened of you?" the Doctor tries to ask the child but all the child says is "Please let me in, mummy. I'm scared of the bombs."

Rose and the Doctor share a look "Okay. I'm opening the door now." The boy pulls back his hand and the Doctor unbolts the front door. When he opens it, the boy has gone, and the street is deserted.

****

Jack smirks at Nova "wow you really are good" she smirks back "I told you... now you got lights in here?" Jack turns on the lights. It's a small, cramped, spaceship with bundles of wires hanging from the ceiling.

Jack looks at her "Hello." Nova gives him a smile "Hello." "Hello." Jack repeats Nova laughs "Let's not start that again."

"Okay." Nova looks him over "So, who're you supposed to be, then?" "Captain Jack Harkness, One Three Three Squadron, Royal Air Force. American volunteer."

He hands her his ID card. Nova smirks "Liar. This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me." "How do you know?" Nova smirks at him "Two things. One, well my father uses it all the time" he nods at her "Ah." Nova continues "And two, you just handed me a piece of paper telling me you're single and you work out." Jack smirks "Tricky thing, psychic paper."

Nova smirks at him knowing exactly what she's thinking while handing it back to him "Yeah. Can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over." He grabs it "oh so you're single and you consider yourself to be footloose and fancy-free." Nova gives him an innocent look "what?" "Actually, the word you use is available...... very available"

Nova smirks with a shrug "what can I say your cute... Nice spaceship by the way" "Gets me around" Nova smirks "Very Spock." Jack looks at her "Who?" Nova laughs "yeah it if wasn't for Rose I wouldn't know who that was either... But anyway, guessing you're not a local boy, then."

Jack gives her a look "A cell phone, a liquid crystal watch, and fabrics that won't be around for at least another two decades. Guessing you're not a local girl." Nova smirk "Not by a long shot"

Jack notices her hands "Burn your hands on the rope?" Nova looks at her hands "Guess I did... you can cloak your ship, right? Because that might draw a little attention" Jack looks impressed "yes the ship is cloaked and anchored to big ben... you seem to know a lot about space ships... Can I have a look at your hands for a moment?"

Nova looks at him "Why? Because of the rope burn?" "Please? And yes. You can stop acting now. I know exactly who you are. I can spot a Time Agent a mile away."

Nova holds back a snort "Time Agent?" "I've been expecting one of you guys to show up. Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon. Do you often travel that way?" Jack asks her with a rather cheeky smile

"Sometimes I get swept off my feet. By balloons." Jack wraps his scarf around her wrists. "What are you doing?" "Try to keep still."

He presses a button. A glowing bundle zooms into Nova's burnt palms "Nano genes. Sub-atomic robots. The air in here is full of them. They just repaired three layers of your skin" The glow dissipates, and he unties her wrists.

Nova gives him a look "I know what Nano Genes are" "Shall we get down to business?" "Business?" "Shall we have a drink on the balcony?" Jack asks her before talking to the computer "Bring up the glasses." Jack opens a hatch to the top of his spaceship.

The fires of London are burning below, and searchlights pass through where the spaceship is.

Nova looks at him "We are standing on your cloaked ship in the middle of the London Blitz" he nods "yeah tethered to Big Ben... The first rule of active camouflage. Park somewhere you'll remember." Nova smirks "Smart"

Jack opens the bottle of champagne and fills the glasses Nova brought with her.

****

Nancy goes to a shack in some railway sidings and hides the food she took from the Lloyd's kitchen. She stands up to see Rose and the Doctor who is smiling.

"How'd you follow me here?" Nancy asks him "I'm good at following, me. Got the nose for it." "People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to." "My nose has special powers." "Yeah? That's why it's..." Nancy trails off Rose laughs getting the direction that Nancy was going with that.

"What?" The Doctor asked not getting it. 

"Nothing." "What?" the Doctor asks her again then looks at Rose, who shakes her head he turns back to Nancy as she says "Nothing. Do your ears have special powers too?"

"What are you trying to say?" Nancy shakes her head "Goodnight, Mister. Miss"

The Doctor looks at her "Nancy, there's something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy and it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right? The thing I'm looking for, the thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

Nancy sighs "There was a bomb. A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station." "Take us there." The Doctor states "There are soldiers guarding it. Barbed wire. You'll never get through." Nancy tells him "Try us."

"You sure you want to know what's going on in there?" Rose nods as the Doctor answers "We really want to know." "Then there's someone you need to talk to first."

"And who might that be?" Nancy looks at them "The Doctor" Rose looks at The Doctor surprised "what?" he shrugs like no idea but let's find out.

****

Nova looks at Jack "You know, it's getting a bit late. I should really be getting back." "We're discussing business." He tells her Nova smirks "This isn't business. This is champagne."

"I try never to discuss business with a clear head. Are you traveling alone? Are you authorized to negotiate with me?" "What would we be negotiating?"

"I have something for the Time Agency. Something they'd like to buy. Are you in power to make payment?" Nova smirks "Well, I, I should talk to my companions" He gives her an intrigued look "companions?"

Nova smirks again "I should really get back to him and her" Jack gives her a look "interesting"

Nova looks at him "Do you have the time?" Jack uses his remote. The clock face lights up and Big Ben strikes nine-thirty.

Nova laughs "Okay, that was flash. That was on the flash side." "So when you say your companions, just how disappointed should I be?" Nova smirks at him "looks like you'll just have to wait and see" then she winks at him. Then she continues "but for now, we're standing in midair. On a spaceship, during a German air raid. Do you really think now's a good time to be coming on to me?"

Jack smirks at her again "Perhaps not." Nova shrugs "It was just a suggestion" "Do you like Glenn Miller?" Nova gives him a look "love him"

The magic remote again. Moonlight Serenade plays. Jack takes Nova in his arms and they dance.

"It's 1941, the height of the London Blitz, the height of the German bombing campaign, and something else has fallen on London. A fully equipped Chula warship. The last one in existence, armed to the teeth. And I know where it is because I parked it. If the Agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours, a German bomb is going to fall on it and destroy it forever. That's your deadline. That's the deal. Now, shall we discuss payment?"

Nova gives him a look of her own "Do you know what I think?" "What?" "I think you were talking just then."

"Two hours, the bomb falls. There'll be nothing left but dust and a crater." Jack tells her Nova just smirks "Promises, promises." "Are you listening to any of this?" "You used to be a Time Agent, now you're some kind of freelancer." "Well, that's a little harsh. I like to think of myself as a criminal." "Oh, I bet you do."

"So, these companions of yours, do they handle the business?" "Well, I delegate a lot of that, yeah" Jack gives her one of his charming smiles "Well, maybe we should go find them." Nova raises an eyebrow at him "And how're you going to do that?" "Easy. I'll do a scan for alien tech." Nova smirks at him "Nice... well then let's get to that... yeah?" 

****

The Doctor uses super-binoculars to scan the area. "The bombs under that tarpaulin. They put the fence up overnight. See that building? The hospital." Nancy tells the two

"What about it?" The Doctor asks her "That's where the doctor is. You should talk to him."

"For now, we're more interested in getting in there." The Doctor points the closed-off area. "Talk to the doctor first." Nancy insists. Rose looks at her "Why?" "Because then maybe you won't want to get inside." "Where're you going?" The Doctor asks Nancy as she goes to leave "There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed. Should be safe enough now."

"Can I ask you a question? Who did you lose?" The doctor ass her before she walks away "What?" she looks at him

"The way you look after all those kids. It's because you lost somebody, isn't it? You're doing all this to make up for it" Nancy sighs "My little brother. Jamie. One night I went out looking for food. The same night that thing fell. I told him not to follow me, I told him it was dangerous, but he just. He just didn't like being on his own."

"What happened?" Nancy gives him a flat look "In the middle of an air raid? What do you think happened?"

"Amazing."

"What is?"

"1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Until one, tiny, damp little island says no. No. Not here. A mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing, the lot of you. Don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me. Off you go then do what you've got to do. Save the world." The doctor tells her

Something watches Nancy walk away. Leaving Rose and the Doctor alone.

****

The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to open the padlock on the ornate metal gates to the hospital grounds. Inside the long, dark wards, every bed has a very still patient in it, and they are all wearing gas masks. An elderly, grumpy doctor appears, leaning on a walking stick.

The man looks at Rose and the Doctor "You'll find them everywhere. In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them" "Yes, we saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks?" the Doctor asks.

"They're not. Who are you?" Rose looks at the elderly man "I'm Rose" The Doctor looks at the man "I'm, er. Are you the doctor?" "Doctor Constantine." He answers then asks, "And you are?"

"Nancy sent us." The Doctor tells Constantine "Nancy? That means you must've been asking about the bomb." The Doctor nods "yes we were" "What do you know about it?" Constantine asks the two "Nothing. Why we were asking. What do you know?"

"Only what it's done." He tells them "These people, they were all caught up in the blast?" "None of them were." The doctor chuckles then coughs. He sits in a chair by the desk where the ward sister would usually be.

Rose looks at the man "You're very sick." "Dying, I should think. I just haven't been able to find the time. Are you a doctor?" Constantine asks Rose shakes her head "not me"

The Doctor looks at him "I have my moments." "Have you examined any of them yet?" "No." "Don't touch the flesh." "Which one?" "Anyone." The Doctor points his sonic screwdriver at the nearest patient.

Constantine looks at him "Conclusions?"

"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side. Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can't see any burns"

"Examine another one," Constantine tells him. He examines another one "This isn't possible."

"No."

"They've all got the same injuries." Rose looks at them "how?" but her questions gets ignored as Constantine answers the Doctor "Yes."

"Exactly the same."

"Yes."

"Identical, all of them, right down to the scar on the back of the hand."

Doctor Constantine also has that scar. "How did this happen? How did it start?" "When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim," Constantine tells him

"Dead?" Rose and the Doctor both ask

"At first. His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those exact same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?"

"The head trauma." "No." "Asphyxiation." "No." "The collapse of the chest cavity" "No." "All right." The Doctor states giving up listing the things "What was the cause of death?" Constantine looks at them "There wasn't one. They're not dead."

He hits a wastebasket with his stick and the noise makes the patients sit up in their beds. Rose and the Doctor both jump slightly "It's all right. They're harmless. They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just don't die."

"And they've just been left here? Nobody's doing anything?" The patients lie down again. "I try and make them comfortable. What else is there?" "Just you? You're the only one here?"

"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither. But I'm still a doctor." "Yeah. I know the feeling." "I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb." "Probably too late."

" No. There are isolated cases. Isolated cases breaking out all over London. Stay back, stay back. Listen to me. Top floor. Room eight oh two. That's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again."

Rose looks at Doctor Constantine "Nancy?" "It was her brother. She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me, but she might Mummy. Are you my mummy?" Starting with the mouth, Doctor Constantine's face turns into a gas mask.

Nova ad Jack are walk through the hospital "Hello?" "Hello?"

They walk into the room where Rose and the Doctor are Rose smiles seeing her best friend "Novs... thank god"

Jack looks at the two "Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you two on the way over" Nova smirk and shoots a wink at the two "He knows. I had to tell him about us being Time Agents."

Jack looks at The Doctor and Rose "And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mister Spock. Miss Tyler" The Doctor gives Nova a look "Mister Spock?" she shrugs "well I couldn't tell him your name, now could I?" "fair point... Where've you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll."

Nova smirks at her father "Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon. The only way to see an air raid." "What?!" Nova rolls her eyes "Jeez dad calm down... He's got a Chula warship?" Rose looks at her "what's a Chula warship?" "Chula?" Nova nods "Chula"

Jack is using a wrist tricorder thing to examine the patients "This just isn't possible. How did this happen?" The Doctor looks at Jack "What kind of Chula ship landed here?"

"What?"

Nova looks at her dad "He said it was a warship. He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer."

"What kind of warship?" the Doctor presses "Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this." Jack insists "This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?" "An ambulance! Look." Nova rolls her eyes he tried to sell them space junk. Jack produces a hologram of it from his wrist device.

"That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait" Nova snorts and shakes her head.

Rose looks at Jack "Bait?" "I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk."

Nova gives him a look "You said it was a warship" Jack shrugs at her "They have ambulances in wars. It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents. You're not are you." Nova smirks at him "Just a few more freelancers."

"Oh. Should have known. The way you guys are blending in with the local color. I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain? Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship." Nova rolls her eyes "well I didn't realize we were going to land in the middle of WWII or I would have avoided the flag shirt"

Rose looks at the Doctor "What is happening here, Doctor?" "Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot." "What do you mean?" "I don't know. Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?"

Nova starts thinking trying to figure out what is doing this, but she is coming up with nothing.

The patients suddenly sit up "Mummy. Mummy. Mummy? Mummy?" Nova looks at her father "What's happening?" he looks at her "I don't know." The patients and Doctor Constantine all stand up.

"Mummy." "Don't let them touch you." The Doctor warns his daughter, Nova looks at him "What happens if they touch us?" "You're looking at it" The patients close in on the Doctor, Rose, Nova, and Jack.

"Help me, mummy"

They keep getting closer repeating "Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is 'The Empty Child' hope you guys like it 'The Doctor Dances' is up next.


	12. The Doctor Dances

The patients are almost within touching distance.

"Go to your room." The Doctor tells them, the patients in the ward and the child in the house stand still. Nova looks at her father in surprise that, it actually got them to stop

"Go to your room. I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. I am very, very cross. Go to your room!" The Doctor tells them I a sterner voice. The child and the patients hang their heads in shame and shuffle away. The child leaves the Lloyd's house and the patients get back into bed.

The Doctor looks at Rose, Jack and Nova "I'm really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words." Nova laughs "yes they really would have."

***

From the window, Nancy watches the child walk away down the street and whispers "Jamie." She sits on the floor and cries.

***

"Why are they all wearing gas masks? "Rose asks looking at the patients. "They're not. Those masks are flesh and bone." Jack answers her question. 

The Doctor turns to Jack "How was your con supposed to work?" "Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth, convince him it's valuable, name a price. When he's put fifty percent upfront, oops! A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for, never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money, and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con." Jack explains as if it's a normal occurrence. "Yeah. Perfect." The Doctor scoffs

Jack shrugs "The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though, but you've got to set your alarm for volcano day." He sees the look the Doctor is giving him "Getting a hint of disapproval."

"Take a look around the room. This is what your harmless piece of space-junk did." "It was a burnt-out medical transporter. It was empty." Jack tries to defend himself.

The Doctor looks at Rose and his daughter "Rose, Nova" Nova looks back at him "yes?" while Rose asks "Are we getting out of here?"

The Doctor shakes his head "We're going upstairs." Nova smirks "Awesome"

"I even programmed the flight computer, so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no-one. I don't know what's happening here, but believe me, I had nothing to do with it." Jack says still trying to prove he had nothing to do with this.

"I'll tell you what's happening. You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's volcano day." The Doctor tells him. 

A siren sounds. Rose looks at them "What's that?" "The all clear." Jack tells her, the Doctor looks at them "I wish."

***

Nancy heads for the back door and is confronted by a boy in a gas mask. He takes it off. "I thought you were Jamie." She tells the boy then runs past him as the boy is call out "Dad! Dad!"

"Ruddy kids!" Mr. Lloyd says as he grabs Nancy as she protests "Get off of me! Get your hands off me now!" Mister Lloyd man-handles Nancy back inside the house. Mrs. Lloyd looks at her "Oi, you! Get in! Get her in there. She's nicked!"

***

"Mister Spock?" "Doctor?" "Dad?" Jack, Rose and Nova all call out at the same time as they run past the staircase. The Doctor is the next flight up.

The Doctor looks at Jack "Have you got a blaster?" Jack nods "Sure!" They run up to join him outside a secure metal door.

"The night your space-junk landed, someone was hurt. This was where they were taken." The Doctor tells Jack.

Rose looks at the Doctor "What happened?"

The Doctor grins "Let's find out." The looks at Jack "Get it open."

Rose looks confused "What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?" Nova smirks as the Doctor answers "Nothing."

Jack's blaster disintegrates the lock. "Sonic blaster, 51st century. Weapon Factories of Villengard?" the Doctor says, Nova smirks "oh I so need one of those" Nobody says anything to Nova's comment but Jack smirks at her then turns to the Doctor "You've been to the factories?"

"Once." The Doctor tells him.

"Well, they gone now, destroyed. The main reactor went critical. Vaporized the lot." Jack explains Nova makes a pouty face "so I can't get one of those blasters?" The Doctor shakes his head at Nova "Like I said. Once. There's a banana grove there, now. I like bananas. Bananas are good" Nova grins "Bananas are good... I love bananas"

Rose looks at the door "Nice blast pattern." "Digital." Jack and Nova say at the same time then they smirk at each other.

"Squareness gun."

"Yeah."

Rose nods "I like it."

***

Filing cabinets, electronic equipment, and a big mess. An observation window across the room is broken.

The Doctor looks at Jack "What do you think? "Something got out of here." Jack says, the Doctor gives him a look "Yeah. And?" "Something powerful. Angry." Jack continues

"Powerful and angry." The Doctor says. There are child's crayon drawings scattered on the floor and a Steiff teddy bear. "A child?" Jack starts then pauses for a moment before continuing "I suppose this explains Mummy."

Rose looks at them "How could a child do this?"

The Doctor turns on a tape machine.

CONSTANTINE [OC]: Do you know where you are?

CHILD [OC]: Are you my mummy?

CONSTANTINE [OC]: Are you aware of what's around you? Can you see?

CHILD [OC]: Are you my mummy?

CONSTANTINE [OC]: What do you want? Do you know

CHILD [OC]: I want my mummy. Are you my mummy? I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?

Nova looks at her dad "Dad, I've heard this voice before." The Doctor looks at her "Me too."

"Mummy?"

Nova looks at them"Always are you, my mummy?. Like he doesn't know."

"Mummy?" Rose looks at Nova and the Doctor "Why doesn't he know?"

"Are you there, mummy? Mummy?"

***

Lloyd looks at Nancy "The police are on their way. I pay for the food on this table. The sweat on my brow, that food is. The sweat on my brow. Anything else you'd like? I've got a whole house here. Anything else you'd like to help yourself to?"

Nancy smirks "Yeah. I'd like some wire cutters, please. Something that can cut through barbed wire. Oh, and a torch. Don't look like that, Mister Lloyd. I know you've got plenty of tools in here. I've been watching this house for ages. And I'd like another look round your kitchen cupboards. I was in a hurry the first time. I want to see if there's anything I missed." 

"The food on this table"

"It's an awful lot of food, isn't it, Mister Lloyd? A lot more than on anyone else's table. Half this street thinks your missus must be messing about with Mister Haverstock, the butcher. But she's not, is she? You are. Wire cutters. Torch. Food. And I'd like to use your bathroom before I leave, please. Oh, look. There's the sweat on your brow."

***

"Mummy? Please, mummy? Mummy?"

"Doctor?" Rose questions "Can you sense it?" the Doctor questions "Sense what?" Jack asks, "Coming out of the walls." The Doctor states then asks again "Can you feel it?" Nova nods "I can feel it"

"Mummy?"

"Funny little human brains. How do you get around in those things?" Nova laughs as Rose explains to Jack "When he's stressed, he likes to insult species."

"Rose, I'm thinking." The Doctor tells her but she continues "He cuts himself shaving, he does half an hour on life forms he's cleverer than." Nova nods with a laugh "that is so true"

"There are these children living rough round the bomb sites. They come out during air-raids looking for food."

"Mummy, please?"

"Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed?" The Doctor continues, and Jack once again says "It was a med-ship. It was harmless."

"Yes, you keep saying harmless. Suppose one of them was affected, altered?" "Altered how?" Rose questions and the wheel in Nova's head start spinning trying to figure out what's happening.

The tape runs out. "I'm here!" the Child says. 

"It's afraid. Terribly afraid and powerful. It doesn't know it yet, but it will do. It's got the power of a god, and I just sent it to its room." The Doctor tells them just realizing.

"Dad" "Doctor." Nova and Rose say at the same time. 

"I'm here. Can't you see me?"

They hear a noise "What's that noise?" Rose asks "End of the tape. It ran out about thirty seconds ago." The Doctor tells her. They hear the child "I'm here, now. Can't you see me?"

The Doctor looks at them with wide eyes "I sent it to its room. This is its room."

The child is there. "Are you my mummy? Mummy?"

"Doctor?" Rose asks kind of scared. Jack looks at them "Okay, on my signal make for the door."

"Mummy?"

Jack aims his blaster at the child. Except it is a banana. Nova Laughs knowing that her dad took his blaster when Jack was distracted.

"Now!" Jack tells them

"Mummy?"

The Doctor pulls Jack's blaster from his belt and makes a nice square hole in the wall. "Go now! Don't drop the banana!" The Doctor says aiming the last part at Jack who looks at him questioningly "Why not?!" "Good source of potassium!" The Doctor tells him as they run out of the room.

Jack looks at the Doctor "Give me that!" and takes his blaster back

"Mummy. I want my mummy."

Jack uses his blaster to repair the hole in the wall.)"

"Digital rewind." Jack tells Rose then turning to the Doctor "Nice switch." "It's from the groves of Villengard. I thought it was appropriate." The Doctor tells him "There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?" Jack asks. The Doctor and Nova both grin and say, "Bananas are good." At the same time.

The wall starts to crack.

"Doctor!" Rose exclaims "Come on!" the Doctor tells them. But the patients are coming at them from the other direction. "Mummy. Mummy. Mummy." All the patients are surrounding them.

"It's keeping us here till it can get at us." Jack looks at the Doctor and asks, "It's controlling them?"

"It is them. It's every living thing in this hospital." The Doctor tells him.

"Okay. This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and as a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter." Then he turns to the Doctor "Doc, what you got?" Nova snickers as her dad says "I've got a sonic, er. Oh, never mind."

"What?" Jack presses "It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that." Nova is barely containing her laughter at this point even though now isn't really the time for it.

Jack presses further "Disrupter? Cannon? What?" then the Doctor exclaims "It's sonic! Totally sonic! I am soniced up!"

"A sonic what?!" Jack asks once again, and this time Nova lets her laughter out and answers for her father "He has a Sonic Screwdriver"

The child breaks through the wall. Nova grabs Jack's blaster and points it at the floor.

"Going down!" Nova warns them.

***

Jack takes his blaster back from Nova and repairs the hole in the ceiling.

Rose looks at the Doctor "Doctor, are you okay?" He gives Nova a pointed look "Could've used a warning." She sticks her tongue out at him "I said going down... wasn't that warning enough?"

Jack looks at the Doctor "Who has a sonic screwdriver?" "I do" "He does" Nova and the Doctor reply at the same time.

"Lights," Rose mutters more to herself than anything then goes looking for a light switch.

Jack who is still looking at the Doctor "Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, oh, this could be a little more sonic?" "What, you've never been bored?" "There's got to be a light switch," Rose says again still looking for a light switch.

"Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?" Jack and the Doctor are still bickering about the sonic screwdriver as Rose finds the light switch finally. Patients sit up in their beds.

"Mummy. Mummy."

"Door," Jack says as he points his blaster at and presses the trigger only the blaster doesn't work. "Damn it!"

"Mummy." Jack looks at Rose and Nova "It's the special features. They really drain the battery." Rose looks at him questioningly "The battery?" Nova snorts "of course the battery dies at the exact moment we need it"

***

The screwdriver gets them into the storeroom.

Rose looks at Jack "That's so lame!" Jack gives a look to the Doctor "I was going to send for another one, but somebody's got to blow up the factory."

Rose looks at Jack "Oh, I know. The first day we met him, he blew our job up. That's practically how he communicates." Nova nods "yeah that's kinda true"

"Okay, that door should hold it for a bit." The Doctor informs them after he soniced it. "The door? The wall didn't stop it!"

The Doctor looks at him "Well, it's got to find us first! Come on, we're not done yet! Assets, assets!" Jack looks at the Doctor and pulls out his banana "Well, I've got a banana, and in a pinch, you could put up some shelves."

"Window." The Doctor lists. Jack shakes his head "Barred. Sheer drop outside. Seven stories." Rose sighs "And no other exits." Nova shrugs "give them a minute they'll figure something out"

"Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" Jack comments "So Nova, where'd you pick this one up, then?" Nova looks at him "Dad!" Jack smirks "She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance."

The Doctor nods "Okay. One, we've got to get out of here. Two, we can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?" Nova snorts "yeah and Jack just disappeared"

Rose looks at Nova "Okay, so he's vanished into thin air. Why is it always the great looking ones who do that?" Nova laughs "I know right?" The Doctor looks at Rose "I'm making an effort not to be insulted." Nova smirks as Rose says, "I mean, men."

"Okay, thanks, that really helped." The radio crackles into life. "Nova, Rose? Doctor? Can you hear me? I'm back on my ship." Jack says through the radio. "Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it. Hang in there."

"How're you speaking to us," the Doctor asks. "Om-Com. I can call anything with a speaker grill."

"Now there's a coincidence." "What is?" Jack asks him.

"The child can Om-Com, too." Rose looks at the Doctor "He can?" "Anything with a speaker grill. Even the Tardis phone." Nova looks at her dad "Even the Tardis phone? That's not even hooked to anything" he nods "I know"

Rose looks at them "What, you mean the child can phone us?" Nova nods "Yep that is exactly what he means"

They hear the child through the radio "And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to find you." "Doctor, can you hear that?" Jack asks him "Loud and clear." "I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do." Jack tells them. Then the child speaks through the radio again "Coming to find you, mummy."

"remember this one Nova?" Jack says before Moonlight Serenade comes through the radio.

Nova grins "Our song."

Meanwhile, Nancy has made it to Limehouse Green and is cutting the barbed wire.

A little later, Rose is relaxing in a wheelchair while the Doctor is at the barred window with the ever-versatile sonic screwdriver.

Rose looks at the Doctor "What are you doing?" "Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars." Nova looks at her dad "You don't think he's coming back, do you?"

The Doctor shakes his head "Wouldn't bet my life." Nova gives her dad a look "Why don't you trust him?" he gives her a look right back "Why do you?" "He saved my life dad. Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing. I trust him because he's like you. Except, he dances." He gives her a flat look "What?"

"You just assume I'm" Rose looks at him "what?" The Doctor looks at Rose and Nova both "You just assume that I don't dance."

Nova smirks as Rose and her dad continue talking "What, are you telling me you do dance?" "Nine hundred years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume at some point I've danced." Rose gives him a look "You?" "Problem?" "Doesn't the universe implode or something if you dance?" Nova laughs at Roses question because she has never seen her dad dance either

The Doctor looks at both of them "Well, I've got the moves, but I wouldn't want to boast." Nova turns up the volume on the radio. It is still Moonlight Serenade, Nova smirk and steps towards her dad "You've got the moves? Show me your moves dad"

"Nova, I'm trying to resonate concrete." He tells her, Nova laughs along with Rose. NOva rolls her eyes "Dad. Jack will be back. He'll get us out. So, come on. The world doesn't end because the Doctor dances."

Nova holds out her hands, and the Doctor looks at her palms. "Barrage balloon?" Nova looks at her hands and nods "yeah" ""You were hanging from a barrage balloon." Nova nods again "Oh, yeah. About two minutes after you two left me. Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German air-raid, Union Jack all over my chest."

"Hanging from a rope thousands of feet above London. Not a cut, not a bruise." Nova nods "Yeah, I know. Captain Jack fixed me up." The doctor looks at his daughter "Oh, we're calling him Captain Jack now, are we?" "Well yeah, his name's Jack and he's a Captain."

"He's not really a Captain, Nova" Nova smirks and laughs "Do you know what I think? I think you're experiencing Captain envy." Nova let Rose take over trying to get her father to dance "You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them."

"If ever he was a Captain, he's been defrocked." Nova smirks again "Yeah? Shame I missed that"

***

"Actually, I quit. Nobody takes my frock. Most people notice when they've been teleported. You guys are so sweet. Sorry about the delay. I had to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security."

The Doctor looks at him "You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols? Maybe you should remember whose ship it is." "Oh, I do. She was gorgeous. Like I told her, be back in five minutes." Jack tells them with a smirk.

The Doctor looks around the ship "This is a Chula ship." "Yeah, just like that medical transporter. Only this one is dangerous."

The Doctor snaps his fingers and the golden glow envelopes his hands. "They're what fixed my hands up Nanogenes... oh my god why didn't I realize it before"

The Doctor nods "Sub-atomic robots. There are millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now. They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws. Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk."

Jack looks at him "As soon as I get the nav-com back online. Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever it was you were doing." "We were talking about dancing." The Doctor tells him Jack gives them a look "It didn't look like talking." Rose looks back at him "It didn't feel like dancing"

***

Nancy makes her way to the tarpaulin-covered spacecraft. Just as she starts to pull it back, the spotlights come on and rifles are pointed at her. "Halt! Don't move!"

***

Nova looks at Jack "So, you used to be a Time Agent now you're trying to con them?" Jack looks at her "If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money." "well, then why do you do it?" "Woke up one day when I was still working for them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back." Jack tells her.

Nova looks at him "They stole your memories?" Jack nods "Two years of my life. No idea what I did. Your father doesn't trust me, and for all, I know he's right not to. Okay, we're good to go. Crash site?"

***

Nancy is escorted in. An unwell soldier tries to stand up. "As you were. Feeling any better?" Algy asks

The solider Jenkins says, "Just a touch, sir." "Chain her up where Jenkins can keep an eye on her." Algy tells one of the other soldiers "No, not in here. Not with him." Nancy tries to plead with them, but they don't listen. Nancy has spotted the scar on Jenkins' hand. She is handcuffed a chain wrapped around the table leg and sat in a chair opposite him.

"You shouldn't have broken in here if you didn't want to stay." Algy tells her "You don't understand. Not with him." Nancy tries to plead again.

"This is a restricted area, miss. You can just sit here for a bit. We're going to have to ask you a few questions." Another soldier comes in carrying the bolt cutters "found these, sir" Algy looks at Nancy "Very professional. A little bit too professional. Didn't just drop in by accident then, did you?" "My little brother died here. I wanted to find out what killed him." Nancy tells him.

"Take the men, check the fence for any other breaches and search the area. She may not have come here alone." Algy tells the other solider

"Yes, sir." The soldier leaves.

"Please! Listen, you can't leave me here." Nancy begs Algy looks at Jenkins "Watch her, Jenkins." "Yes, Mummy." Algy looks at him "Jenkins?" "Sorry, sir. I don't know what's the matter with me." "Look, lock me up, fine, but not here. Please, anywhere but here!" Nancy begs again but nobody listens. Algy leaves.

Jenkins looks at Nancy "You'll be all right, miss. I'm just a little. Just a little, just a little. What's the matter with you?" "Please, let me go." Jenkins looks at her "Why would I do that?"

"Because you've got a scar on the back of your hand." Nancy tells him trying to convince him to let her go "Well, yes, but I don't see what that's got to do with anything." Nancy continues "And you feel like you're going to be sick like something's forcing its way up your throat. I know because I've seen it before."

Jenkins looks at her "What's happening to me?" "In a minute, you won't be you anymore. You won't even remember you. And unless you let me go, it's going to happen to me too. Please."

"What're you talking about?" Jenkins asks her. Nancy starts asking him questions "What's your mother's name?" "Matilda." "You got a wife?" "Yes." "Wife's name? You got kids? What's your name? Please, let me go. It's too late for you. I'm sorry, but please let me go."

"What do you mmmm." Then the gas mask grows onto his face "Mummy."

***

"There it is. Hey, they've got Algy on duty. It must be important." Jack tells them "We've got to get past him." The Doctor says. Rose looks at them "Are the words distract the guard heading in mine or Nova's general direction?"

Jack shakes his head "I don't think that'd be such a good idea." "Don't worry we can handle it." Rose tells him

Jack looks at her "I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me, you're not his type. I'll distract him. Don't wait up." Nova smirks as her dad explains it to Rose "Relax, he's a 51st-century guy. He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing." Rose looks at him "How flexible?" "Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy."

"Meaning?" Rose asks again Nova comes in this time with a smirk "So many species, so little time." Rose gives them a look "What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission? We seek new life, and, and" the Doctor cuts her off "Dance"

***

Jack walks up to Algy "Hey, tiger. How's it hanging?" Algy looks at him "Mummy?" "Algy, old sport, it's me." "Mummy?" "It's me, Jack." "Jack? Are you my mummy?" Algy asks then starts to retch, then falls to his knees before his face turns into a gas mask. Ros, Nova and the Doctor run forward from the sidings.

"Stay back!" The Doctor exclaims

"You men stay away!" Jack tells them.

The Doctor looks at them "The effect's become air-borne, accelerating." The air raid sirens startup. Rose looks at the Doctor "What's keeping us safe?" Nova sghs and looks at Rose "Nothing." "Ah, here they come again." Jack says.

Nova rolls her eyes "All we need." Then looks at Jack "Didn't you say a bomb was going to land here?" "Never mind about that. If the contaminants airborne now, there's hours left." The Doctor tells her.

Jack looks at him questioningly "For what?" "Till nothing, forever. For the entire human race. And can anyone else hear singing?" Nancy is singing to Jenkins "Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetops"

***

Jenkins is fully transformed and slumped across the table with Nancy singing "When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. Down will come baby, cradle and all." The Doctor enters and gestures to her to keep singing.

"Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetops. When the wind blows the cradle will rock." Nancy keeps singing. The Doctor frees her from the handcuffs.

***

They light up and uncover the spacecraft. Jack looks at the Doctor "You see? Just an ambulance." Nancy looks confused "That's an ambulance?" Rose looks at her "It's hard to explain. It's from another world."

"They've been trying to get in." Nova rolls her eyes and quips back "oh no really? I hadn't noticed" while the Doctor gives him a look "Of course they have. They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon. What're you doing?"

Jack is keying in the access codes. "The sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it." Bang! Sparks, and an alarm. The access panel has a red flashing light. Jack steps back "Didn't happen last time." Nova pinches the bridge of her nose while her father answers Jack "It hadn't crashed last time. There'll be emergency protocols."

Rose looks at the Doctor "Doctor, what is that?"

***

"Mummy?" All the patients get up.

***

The patients start battering at the hospital doors.

"Doctor!" Rose says

"Captain secure those gates!" The Doctor instructs Jack "why?" "Just do it!" then he turns to Nancy "Nancy, how'd you get in here?" "I cut the wire." "Show Rose. Setting two thousand four hundred and twenty-eight D." The Doctor throws Rose the sonic screwdriver. Rose looks at him "What?" "Reattaches barbed wire. Go!"

***

As the patients leave the hospital, Rose mends the cuts in the barbed wire. Bombs fall on London again.

Nancy looks at Rose "Who are you? Who are any of you?" "You'd never believe me if I told you." Rose tells her "You just told me that was an ambulance from another world. There are people running around with gas mask heads calling for their mummies, and the sky's full of Germans dropping bombs on me. Tell me, do you think there's anything left I couldn't believe?"

Rose sighs We're time travelers from the future." Nancy shakes her head "Mad, you are." "We have a time travel machine. seriously!" Rose tells her. "It's not that. All right, you've got a time travel machine. I believe you. Believe anything, me. But what future?"

Rose looks at her "Nancy, this isn't the end. I know how it looks, but it's not the end of the world or anything" "How can you say that?? Look at it." "Listen to me. I was born in this city. I'm from here, in like, fifty years time."

Nancy looks at her surprised "From here?" Rose nods "I'm a Londoner. From your future." "But, but you're not" "What?" "German."

"Nancy, the Germans don't come here. They don't win. Don't tell anyone I told you so, but you know what? You win." Nancy smiles "We win?" "Come on!" they run back towards the others.

***

Jack gets the ambulance open. "It's empty. Look at it."

"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops? Rose? Nova?" Rose shakes her head "I don't know." Nova put her hand on her forehead "But I do Nanogenes" the Doctor nods "It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species."

"Oh, God." Jack realizes. 

The Doctor looks at him "Getting it now, are we? When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night, and wearing a gas mask." Rose looks at Nova and the Doctor "And they brought him back to life? They can do that?"

Nova nods "they can"

The Doctor looks at them "What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem, though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot has never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being is supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do. They patch it up. Can't tell what's gas mask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Because you see, now they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and nothing in the world can stop it!"

Jack looks at him "I didn't know" The Doctor works on the ambulance while the patients approach. "Mummy. Mummy." Nancy looks out "Rose!" "It's bringing the gas mask people here, isn't it?" Rose asked. "yeah Ro it is, the ship thinks it's under attack" the Doctor nods "It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol."

"But the gas mask people aren't troops." "They are now. This is a battlefield ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, program you." "That's why the child's so strong. Why it could do that phoning thing."

The Doctor nods at her "It's a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes. All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical four-year-old looking for his mummy. And now there's an army of them." The patients surround them, outside the barbed wire.

"Why don't they attack?" Jack asks "Good little soldiers, waiting for their commander." The Doctor tells him "The Child?" "Jamie" Nancy corrects. Jack looks at her "what?" "Not the child. Jamie." Nancy tells him.

Nova looks at Jack "So how long until the bomb falls?" "Any second." Jack tells her kind of anxiously the Doctor looks at him "What's the matter, Captain? A bit close to the volcano for you?"

Nancy looks at them "He's just a little boy." "I know." The Doctor tells her "He's just a little boy who wants his mummy." Nova nods "we know." Then the Doctor says "There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this little boy can."

Rose looks at them "So what're we going to do?" The Doctor looks at her "I don't know."

"It's my fault," Nancy tells them "No." The Doctor tells her "It is. It's all my fault." The Doctor looks at her "How can it be your" but he cuts himself off

"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."

"Nancy, what age are you? Twenty? Twenty-one? Older than you look, yes?" The Doctor questions her.

The bombs get closer.

Jack looks at him "Doctor, that bomb. We've got seconds." Rose looks at him "You can teleport us out." Nova shakes her head knowing that since he reactivated the nav-com it won't take them just Jack.

"Not you guys. The nav-com's back online. Going to take too long to override the protocols." The Doctor looks at him "So it's volcano day. Do what you've got to do."

Nova looks at him "Jack?" Jack vanishes. Nova rolls her eyes "of course... It's always the cute ones that do that" Rose looks at her "I would laugh if we weren't about to be blown up by a German bomb"

The Doctor looks at Nancy "How old were you five years ago? Fifteen? Sixteen? Old enough to give birth, anyway. He's not your brother, is he? A teenage single mother in 1941. So, you hid. You lied. You even lied to him."

The bomb site gate opens, and Jamie stands there.

"Are you my mummy?" "He's going to keep asking, Nancy. He's never going to stop." "Mummy?" The Doctor looks at her again "Tell him. Nancy, the future of humanity is in your hands. Trust me and tell him."

Nancy and Jamie walk towards each other. "Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy?" Jamie asks, Nancy nods "Yes. Yes, I am your mummy."

"Mummy?"

"I'm here."

"Are you my mummy?"

"I'm here." Nancy says again

"Are you my mummy?" Jamie asks again

"Yes."

"Are you my mummy?"

The Doctor looks at her sadly "He doesn't understand. There's not enough of him left."

But Nancy doesn't give up "I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry." Nancy hugs Jamie and a cloud of nanogenes surround them. Rose looks confused "What's happening? Doctor, it's changing her, we should" Nova smiles at the sight of mother and son in front of her.

The Doctor shushes Rose "hush!" then starts talking to the nanogenes "Come on, please. Come on, you clever little nanogenes. Figure it out! The mother, she's the mother. It's got to be enough information. Figure it out."

"What's happening?" Rose questions, Nova smiles "See? Recognizing the same DNA." Jamie lets go and Nancy falls on the ground.

The Doctor is mutter to himself "Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one." The Doctor removes Jamie's gas mask. "Ha-ha! Welcome back! Twenty years till pop music - you're going to love it."

Nancy looks at him "What happened?" The Doctor smiles at her "The nanogenes recognized the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them! Ha-ha! Mother knows best!"

"Oh, Jamie." Nancy says as she hugs the boy.

Rose looks at them "Doctor, that bomb" the Doctor looks at her "Taken care of it." Nova gives her dad a look as Rose asks "How?" "Psychology." He tells her. The bomb hurtles towards them and gets caught in Jack's light beam just before impact. Jack is sitting astride the bomb. "Doctor!"

"Good lad!"

"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis but it won't last long." Jack tells them. "Change of plan. Don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it, safely as you can?" "Nova?" "Yeah Jack" "Goodbye." She smiles "it was nice while it lasted"

Jack and the bomb vanish then they reappear. "By the way, love the tee-shirt." And vanishes again. The spaceship sucks up the light beam and flies off Nova laughs and looks at Rose "Too bad I was starting to like him" Rose smiles at her "I can tell"

The Doctor summons some nanogenes to himself. Rose looks at him ": What are you doing?" "Software patch. Going to email the upgrade. You want moves, Nova? Rose? I'll give you moves." He throws the nanogenes to the waiting patients, who fall to the ground.

"Everybody lives, Nova, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives!" The patients stand up again, back to normal. Nova smiles knowing that this one was a happy ending well for almost everyone.

"Doctor Constantine. Who never left his patients. Back on your feet, constant doctor. The world doesn't want to get by without you just yet, and I don't blame it one bit. These are your patients. All better now." "Yes, yes, so it seems. They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any particular reason for that?"

"Yeah, well, you know, cutbacks. Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you're probably going to find that they're cured. Just tell them what a great doctor you are. Don't make a big thing of it. Okay?"

The Doctor leaves them and an old woman hobbles up.

"Doctor Constantine." "Mrs Harcourt. How much better you're looking." "My leg's grown back. When I come to the hospital, I had one leg." "Well, there is a war on. Is it possible you miscounted?"

"Right, you lot. Lots to do. Beat the Germans, save the world. Don't forget the welfare state! Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?" The Doctor tells them Nova and Rose both laughs "Usually the first in line"

***

"The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered, fantastic!"

Rose smiles "Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas." The Doctor smirks at her "Who says I'm not, red bicycle when you were twelve?" Rose looks shocked "What?"

"And everybody lives, Rose! Everybody lives! I need more days like this." Nova looks at her father "Dad?" he looks at both of them "Go on, ask me anything. I'm on fire." "what about Jack? Can we still save him?"

***

"Okay, computer, how long can we keep the bomb in stasis?" Jack asks "Stasis decaying at ninety percent cycle. Detonation in three minutes." The computer tells him "Can we jettison it?" he tries "Any attempt to jettison the device will precipitate detonation. One hundred percent probability."

"We could stick it in an escape pod." Jack suggests "There is no escape pod on board." "I see the flaw in that. I'll get in the escape pod." "There is no escape pod on board." The computer repeats.

"Did you check everywhere?" Jack asks "Affirmative." "Under the sink?" he tries again but the answer from the computer is the same "Affirmative." "Okay. Out of one hundred, exactly how dead am I?" Jack asks the computer "Termination of Captain Jack Harkness in under two minutes. One hundred percent probability." It tells him.

"Lovely. Thanks. Good to know the numbers." "You're welcome." "Okay then. Think we'd better initiate emergency protocol four one seven." "Affirmative."

A martini appears. Jack drinks it.

"Oo, a little too much vermouth. See if I come here again. Funny thing. Last time I was sentenced to death, I ordered four hyper-vodkas for my breakfast. All a bit of a blur after that. Woke up in bed with both my executioners. Mmm, lovely couple. They stayed in touch. Can't say that about most executioners. Anyway. Thanks for everything, computer. It's been great." Moonlight Serenade plays. Jack looks down the spaceship and through the open doors of the Tardis, where the Doctor and Rose are dancing. While Nova is grinning at him "Well come on then hurry it up"

Jack runs in. Nova waves at him while Rose and the Doctor are dancing or well attempting to dance "Okay. And right and turn. Okay, okay, try and spin me again, but this time don't get my arm up my back. No extra points for a half-nelson."

"I'm sure I used to know this stuff." He tells Rose before telling Jack "Close the door, will you? Your ship's about to blow up. There's going to be a draught."

Jack shuts the door and the Doctor starts up the engine.

"Welcome to the Tardis." Jack looks around "Much bigger on the inside." "You'd better be." Jack offers his hand to Nova who takes it and twirls her around a bit "Rose, Nova, I've just remembered!"

"What?" Rose questions The music changes from waltz to swing - Glenn Miller's In The Mood.

"I can dance! I can dance!" Nova laughs "Actually, Dad, I thought Jack might like this dance." The Doctor smirks at her "I'm sure he would, Nova. I'm absolutely certain. But who with?" Rose dances with the Doctor while Jack dances with Nova. This style he can do and Rose loves it when he dips her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go finally 'The Doctor Dances.' Hope you guys enjoy only three more chapters left in Series 1 which means book 1 is almost done. Next up is 'Boom Town'


	13. Boom Town

** Previously **

The Slitheen spaceship crashes in the Thames. "There's still no word from inside Downing Street, though we are getting even more new arrivals." Margaret unzips her body suit. "We are the Slitheen." "Reduce the Earth to molten slag and then sell it." "Leave this planet or I'll stop you." Mickey hacks into UNIT. "The world is in your hands." 10 Downing Street is destroyed by a missile.

***  
**Six months later   
In a large executive office suite.**

"I've checked the figures. I've checked them again and again. Always the same result. The design is not safe. It could result in the death of millions. I beg of you, stop the project right now, before it's too late."

Margaret looks at him "Well, goodness me. Obviously, Mister Cleaver, you're the expert." He looks at her expectantly "Then you'll stop it?" "It seems I have no choice." She gurgles "Oh, do excuse me. Civic duties leave little time for a sandwich."

"But you promise you'll stop it, today?" "Well, of course. Nothing is more important than human life. What do you take me for, some sort of maniac?"

"Why, no." he tells her, she gives an innocent but devious smirk "Am I right in thinking you've shown your results only to me?" "Just to you. No one else." Cleaver tells her.

Margaret grins "Wise move." Cleaver turns away and wipes his brow.

"I can't tell you, Mrs. Blaine. This is such a weight off my mind. I've barely slept. I couldn't believe my own readings. The scale of it. Destruction like the British Isles has never seen before. If I didn't know better, I'd almost think that someone wanted this project to go wrong. As though they intended to wipe this city off the map. Thank goodness we've got you, our esteemed leader." He turns and screams. Margaret has got out of her body suit.

***

Mickey arrives at Cardiff Central railway station and heads to the redeveloped Oval Basin. The Tardis is in front of the huge water tower, a very avante garde slab with water pouring down it. Mickey knocks on the door. Jack answers it.

"Who the hell are you?" Nova comes up behind him with a smirk. Mickey looks confused "What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?" Nova bursts out laughing as Jack replies "Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever your selling, we're not buying."

Mickey rolls his eyes "Get out of my way!"

***

Jack looks at Nova "Don't tell me. This must be Mickey." Nova smirks "that would be correct Jack, that is Mickey" Mickey nods at her "Nova" she gives him a little wave as he walks further into the control room of the Tardis.

"Here comes trouble! How're you doing, Ricky boy?" Mickey rolls his eyes "It's Mickey!" Rose cuts in "Don't listen to him, he's winding you up." Mickey looks at her "You look fantastic." Rose and Mickey hug. The Doctor is up a ladder mending something.

Jack looks at Rose and Mickey then back at Nova and The Doctor "Aw, sweet, look at these two. How come I never get any of that?" "Buy me a drink first." The Doctor tells him from his place on the ladder. Nova smirks at Jack "Buy me dinner first" Jack smirks back at her "You're such hard work." Nova grins giving him a suggestive look "But worth it."

Rose looks at Mickey "Did you manage to find it?" he smiles at her "There you go." Mickey hands over Rose's passport.

"I can go anywhere now."

Nova smirks as her father says, "I told you, you don't need a passport." Nova looks at her dad "She's stubborn there is no telling her anything" Rose rolls her eyes at Nova and the Doctor "It's all very well going to Platform One and Justicia and the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon, but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything."

"Sounds like you're staying, then. So, what're you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash? I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with big-ears up there" "Oi!" the Doctor tells him Nova bursts out laughing "Look in the mirror. But this guy, I don't know, he's kind of" she shrugs at her dad "It's kind of true... Your ears are huge" her dad gives her a look.

Jack looks at Mickey "Handsome?" Nova smirks "that is true too" Mickey give Nova a look "Not helping Novs" then turns back to Jack "More like cheesy."

Jack looks at Nova "Early twenty-first Century slang. Is cheesy good or bad?" she chuckles "it's bad... but in some senses, it can be good, but I think he meant it in a bad way" Jack smirks at Nova "But bad means good, isn't that right?" Nova smirks at Mickey "Ohhh Mickey he has a point"

The Doctor looks at Mickey "Are you saying I'm not handsome?" Nova shakes her head "that is not what he's saying, dad...... he's just saying that Jack is hotter than you" He gives Nova a look "not helping Novs" she smirks and shrugs "just telling you how it is, pops" The Doctor giver his daughter a look "never call me pops again please" Nova laughs "sure thing"

Rose looks at Mickey interrupting Nova and the Doctors little bickering session "We just stopped off. We need to refuel. The thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions."

"The rift was healed back in 1869." "Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, because these creatures called the Gelth, they were using the rift as a gateway, but she saved the world and closed it." Nova nods "poor girl, saved the world and nobody but us knows it"

"But closing a rift always leaves a scar, and that scar generates energy, harmless to the human race" Jack tells him and the Doctor continues "But perfect for the Tardis, so just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and" "Open up the engines, soak up the radiation." Jack and Nova continue. "Like filling her up with petrol and off we go!" Rose adds on. "Into time!" Jack and Nova say together "And space!" All four of them say together.

Mickey looks at the four of them questioningly "My God, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "Yep!" "Duh!" The Doctor, Rose, Jack ad Nova all say at the same time.

***

The five of them step out of the Tardis "Should take another twenty-four hours, which means we've got time to kill."

"That old lady's staring," Mickey tells them. Jack and Nova smirk as he says "Probably wondering what five people could do inside a small wooden box." "What are you the captain of, the Innuendo Squad?" Jack makes a gesture and starts to walk away with Nova following behind him.

"Wait, the Tardis, we can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?" Mickey calls out, Jack stops "Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?" "It's a cloaking device," Rose tells them.

"It's called a chameleon circuit. The Tardis is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands like if this was Ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something. But I landed in the 1960s, it disguised itself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck." Nova gives him a looks " that's code for he broke it, I keep telling him that if he'd let me have a look at it I could fix it but nope he won't let me near it"

Mickey gives her an odd look then she just happens to remember that he doesn't know that the Doctor is Nova's father, so she shrugs it off "So, it copied a real thing? There actually were police boxes?"

The Doctor looks at Mickey "Yeah, on street corners. Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested someone, they could shove them inside till help came, like a little prison cell." Jack looks at The Doctor "Why don't you just fix the circuit?" "I like it, don't you?" Rose grins "I love it." Nova shrugs "I like it too, but I could still fix the circuit if you'd let me look at it"

"But that's what I meant. There are no police boxes anymore, so don't it get noticed?"

The Doctor looks at him "Ricky, let me tell you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town, what do they do? Walk past it. Now, stop your nagging. Let's go and explore.

Rose looks at The Doctor, Nova, and Jack "What's the plan?" Nova shrugs, looping her arm through Jacks as the five walk down the street.

"I don't know. Cardiff, early twenty first century and the wind's coming from the east. Trust me. The safest place in the universe." The Doctor tells her and Nova snorts "yeah heard that one before"

***

Mayor Margaret Blaine is making an announcement, with the scale model of the power station center stage. The banner above her reads - The Blaidd Drwg Project.

"This nuclear power station right in the heart of Cardiff city will bring jobs for all. As you can see, as Lord Mayor, I've had to sanction some radical redevelopments. No photographs! What did I say? Take pictures of the project by all means, but not of me, thank you. So, Cardiff Castle will be demolished allowing the Blaidd Drwg Project to rise up, tall and proud. A monument to Welsh industry. And yes, some of you might shiver. The words nuclear power station and major population center aren't exactly the happiest of bedfellows. But I give you my personal guarantee that as long as I walk upon this Earth, no harm will come to any of my citizens. Now, drink up. A toast. To the future!" Margaret addresses the crowd.

"To the future!" everybody cheers.

Margaret grins "And believe me it will glow."

One of the reporters starts talking "Excuse me, Mrs. Blaine? My name's Cathy Salt, I represent the Cardiff Gazette." "I'm sorry, I'm not doing interviews. I can't bear self-publicity." Margaret tells her. "But are you aware of the curse?" Cathy questions. "Whatever do you mean? Cathy wasn't it?" "Cathy Salt. That's what some of your engineers are saying, that the Blaidd Drwg Project is cursed."

"Sounds rather silly to me." Margaret brushes it off "That's what I thought. I was just chasing a bit of local color. But the funny thing is, when you start piecing it all together, it does begin to look a bit odd."

"In what way?" Margaret questions "The deaths, The number of deaths associated with this project. First of all, there was the entire team of the European Safety Inspectors."

"But they were French! It's not my fault if Danger Explosives was only written in Welsh." Margret tells her trying to throw the suspicion off of her. "And then there was that accident with the Cardiff Heritage Committee." Cathy presses further "The electrocution of that swimming pool was put down to natural wear and tear." Margaret once again defends. "And then the architect?" "It was raining, visibility was low. my car simply couldn't stop." "And then just recently, Mister Cleaver, the government's nuclear adviser." Presses even further. "Slipped on an icy patch."

"He was decapitated." Margaret once again has an answer to explain it "It was a very icy patch. I'm afraid these stories are nothing more than typical small-town thinking. I really haven't got time. If you'll excuse me."

"Except, before he died, Mister Cleaver posted some of his findings online." Cathy tells her Margaret looks at her in surprise "Did he now?" "If you know where to look. He was concerned about the reactor." Cathy tells her.

"Oh, all that technical stuff!" Margaret brushes it off once again. "Specifically, that the design of the suppression pool would cause the hydrogen recombiners to fail, precipitating in the collapse in the containment isolation system and resulting in a meltdown."

"Who's been doing her homework?" Cathy looks at her "That's my job." Margaret gives her a smirk "I think, Cathy Salt, I think you and I should have a word in private."

***

"Oh! My little tum is complaining. I think we might have to make a detour to the ladies." Margaret tells her "I'll wait here." Cathy states but Margaret isn't having that "Oh, come on. All girls together." Fully planning on killing her as well once she was finished.

***

"So, you were saying. These outlandish theories of yours?" Margaret dashes into a cubicle. There are squelchy sounds. "Sounds like we got here just in time." Cathy says but Margaret pays no mind to her comment "Continue."

"Well, I don't know much about nuclear physics, but from what I could make out, Cleaver was saying that the whole project could go up worse than Chernobyl."

Margaret unzips her forehead. Cathy notices the light under the door. "Is there something wrong with the lights?" "Oh, they're always on the blink. I can't tell you how many memos I've sent. So, Chernobyl." Margaret says wanting more information.

"Apparently, but a thousand times worse. I know it sounds absurd, there must be so many safety regulations. But Cleaver seemed to be talking about a nuclear holocaust. He almost made it sound deliberate. I mean, we're hardly the Sunday Times, we're only the Cardiff Gazette, but we still have a duty to report the facts." Cathy tells her.

"And you're going to print this information?" Margaret questions "Are you all right? You sound a bit." Cathy asks her sounding concerned. "Sore throat. Ahem, ahem. Just a little tickle. But tell me, do you intend to make this information public?"

"I have to." Cathy tells her "So be it." Margaret says ready to step out of the stall and kill the girl, but Cathy keeps talking "Mind you, my boyfriend thinks I'm mad. We're getting married next month, and he says if I cause a fuss, I could lose my job just when we need the money." "Boyfriend?" Margaret asks, and Cathy starts talking about him "Jeffery. Civil Servant. He's nothing exciting, but he's mine."

"When's the wedding?" "The nineteenth. It's really just to stop my mother from nagging, but the baby sort of clinched it, I suppose." "You're with child?" Margaret sits on the toilet.

"Three months. It's not showing yet. Wasn't planned, it was an accident. Nice accident, though." Cathy tells her.

"Congratulations."

Cathy smiles "Thank you. How about you? You got any kids?" "No." "Is there a Mister Blaine?" "Not anymore. I'm all on my own. I had quite a sizeable family, once upon a time. Wonderful brothers. Oh, they were bold. But all of them gone now. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm cursed." Margaret tells her kind of sad.

"No, no, I don't think so. Not really." Cathy tells her. "You're very kind. If you don't mind, I might be a while. You run along. Perhaps we could do this another day." "Are you all right?" Cathy asks her "Fine!" Margaret tells her.

"Okay, I'll tell you what. I'll leave my details with your office. Thanks for talking." "Thank you." Margaret tells her. Cathy leaves the sad Slitheen still in the cubicle.

***

Jack looks around the table "I swear, six feet tall and with big tusks" "You're lying through your teeth!" The Doctor tells him. "I'd have gone bonkers! That's the word - bonkers!" Rose exclaims and Nova smirks trying not to laugh just yet. "I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean tusks! And it's woken, and it's not happy."

"How could you not know it was there?" The Doctor asks him, but Jack just continues his story "And we're standing there, fifteen of us, naked"

"Naked?!" Rose and Nova ask at the same time. "And I'm like, oh, no, no, it's got nothing to do with me. And then it roars, and we are running. Oh my God, we are running! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say" Mickey cuts him off "I knew we should've turned left!" "That's my line!" Rose looks at him "I don't believe you. I don't believe a word you say ever. That is so brilliant. Did you ever get your clothes back?"

The Doctor snatches a newspaper from the man at the next table and reads it.

Jack shakes his "No, I just picked him up went right for the ship, full throttle. Didn't stop until I hit the space lanes. I was shaking. It was unbelievable. It freaked me out, and by the time I got fifteen light years away I realized I'm like this." Nova bursts out laughing "Oh my god that is brilliant"

The Doctor sighs "And I was having such a nice day." The Doctor holds up the front page of the Western Mail, with the picture the photographer took of Margaret.

***

"According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit. Okay, plan of attack, we assume a basic fifty-seven fifty-six strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you go face to face. That'll designate Exit One, Nova and I'll cover Exit Two. Rose, you Exit Three. Mickey Smith, you take Exit Four. Have you got that?" Jack tells them. Nova giggles as her father looks at Jack "Excuse me. Who's in charge?"

Jack holds his hands up in an I surrender motion "Sorry. Awaiting orders, sir."

The Doctor nods "Right, here's the plan." He pauses "Like he said. Nice plan. Anything else?" "Present arms." Jack stats

They each pull out a mobile phone.

The Doctor looks at everybody "Ready."

Rose nods "Ready."

"Ready." Mickey agrees

Jack nods "Ready. Speed dial?"

Nova nods "Ready"

"Yup."

"Ready," Rose says

"Check." Answers Mickey

Nova nods again "let's do this" Jack looks at everybody "See you in hell" Jack and Nova exit the Tardis.

***

The Doctor speaks to the young man sitting at a desk by the door. "Hello, I've come to see the Lord Mayor." "Have you got an appointment?" her secretary asks "No, just an old friend passing by. Bit of a surprise. Can't wait to see her face." The Doctor tells him with a grin.

"Well, she's just having a cup of tea." "Just go in there and tell her the Doctor would like to see her." The Doctor tells him "Doctor who?" the secretary asks "Just the Doctor. Tell her exactly that. The Doctor."

"Hang on a tick." Idris goes into the Lord Mayor's office. A tea cup smashes on the floor. Idris comes out again

"The Lord Mayor says thank you for popping by. She'd love to have a chat, but, er, she's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you could make an appointment for next week?" Idris tells him "She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?" "Yes, she is" Idris confirms.

***

"Slitheen heading north," The Doctor tells them.

***

"On my way," Rose replies

"Over and out." Was Jack's reply

"Oh my God." Finally, was Mickey's reply Nova not needing to reply as she was with Jack.

***

Idris wrestles with the Doctor as Margaret climbs down a ladder. "Leave the Mayor alone!" Idris tells the Doctor.

Meanwhile, Rose runs into a clerk carrying a pile of papers, and Jack and Nova leap over a tea trolley. Mickey crashes into a cleaning woman.

***

Margaret reaches the bottom of the ladder and takes off her brooch. She starts to run but sees Rose coming towards her, snarls and removes her right earring. Then Jack and Nova come running from the opposite direction. The Doctor finishes with Idris and sees her running in the only available direction - across the front of the building.

"Margaret!" the Doctor calls after her. The Doctor gets down the ladder as Margaret removes her other earring and puts it with the first and the brooch. The chase is on.

"Who's on Exit Four??" Jack questions "That was Mickey!" Rose answers, "Here I am." Mickey says. "Mickey the idiot." The Doctor says as Nova lets out a snort "Oh, be fair. she's not exactly going to outrun us, is she?" Rose asks.

Margaret vanishes.

"She's got a teleport! That's cheating! Now we're never going to get her." Jack says a bit discouraged Nova smirks "not so fast Jack... if there's one thing dad if really very good with it's teleport"

The Doctor holds up his sonic screwdriver and Margaret reappears, running towards them. Vanish, reappear. Vanish, reappear. "I could do this all day." The Doctor tells her.

"This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?" Margaret questions and Nova scoffs as the Doctor answers her "You tried to kill me and my daughter and tried to destroy this entire planet."

"Apart from that" Margaret states. And Mickey looks at Rose "did he say daughter" but he gets ignored.

***

Back at Margaret's office, the Doctor looks at her "So, you're a Slitheen, you're on Earth, you're trapped. Your family gets killed but you teleport out just in the nick of time. You have no means of escape. What do you do? You build a nuclear power station. But what for?"

"A philanthropic gesture. I've learned the error of my ways." She says easily "And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift." The Doctor sates not believing her for a second

"What rift would that be?" Margaret asks playing innocent. "A rift in space and time. If this power station went into meltdown, the entire planet would go" Jack answers imitating an explosion. The Doctor looks at her "This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity."

Rose looks concerned "Didn't anyone notice? Isn't there someone in London checking this sort of stuff?"

"We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care. The South Wales coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice. Oh. I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native." Margaret tells her

"But why would she do that? A great big explosion, she'd only end up killing herself." Mickey states. "She's got a name, you know." Margaret snaps at him "She's not even a she, she's a thing." Mickey snaps back at her. Nova rolls her eyes at Mickey being small minded about this.

"Oh, but she's clever." The Doctor tells them. The Doctor pulls the middle section out of the model and turns it over to reveal electronics.

The Doctor grins "Fantastic."

"Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?" Jack and Nova asks at the same time, "Couldn't have put it better myself." The Doctor tells them as Nova smirks as Jack speaks again "Oo, genius! You didn't build this?"

Margaret shrugs "I have my hobbies. A little tinkering." "No, no, no. I mean, you really didn't build this. Way beyond you." Jack says again.

"I bet she stole it." Mickey comment, Nova snorts "she probably did" agreeing with Mickey. "It fell into my hands." Margaret tells them, Rose looks concerned "Is it a weapon?" Nova smirks "nope" then lets Jack explain exactly what it is.

"It's transport. You see, if the reactor blows, the rift opens. Phenomenal cosmic disaster. But this thing shrouds you in a forcefield. You have this energy bubble, so you're safe. Then you feed it coordinates, stand on top, and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system."

"It's a surfboard." Mickey summarizes Jack nods "A pan-dimensional surfboard, yeah."

"And it would've worked. I'd have surfed away from this dead end dump and back to civilization."

Mickey looks at her "You'd blow up a whole planet just to get a lift?"

Margaret smirks "Like stepping on an anthill."

The Doctor looks at Margaret "How'd you think of the name?" "What, Blaidd Drwg? It's Welsh." She shrugs "I know, but how did you think of it?" "I chose it at random, that's all. I don't know. It just sounded good. Does it matter?"

"Blaidd Drwg." The Doctor says the phrase again. Rose looks at him "What's it mean?" "Bad Wolf" Nova and the Doctor tell her at the same time. "But I've heard that before. Bad Wolf. I've heard that lots of times." Nova nods as her father says "Everywhere we go. Two words following us." "Bad Wolf." Nova finishes for him.

Rose looks at Nova and The Doctor "How can they be following us?" "Nah, just a coincidence. Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day. Never mind." The Doctor brushes it off and Nova rolls her eyes knowing that it will pop up again "Things to do. Margaret, we're going to take you home."

Jack looks at the Doctor "Hold on, isn't that the easy option, like letting her go?" Nova smirks once again as Rose looks excited "I don't believe it! We get to go to Raxa. Wait a minute! Raxacor"

"Raxacoricofallapatorious." The Doctor tells her

"Raxacorico" Rose tries again, and this time Nova finishes the word for her "fallapatorius. Now put it together" "Raxacoricofallapatorious. That's it! I did it!" Nova shoots her a thumbs up.

"They have the death penalty. The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty with no chance of appeal. According to the statutes of government, the moment I return, I am to be executed." Margaret explains to them, then turns to the Doctor "What do you make of that, Doctor? Take me home and you take me to my death." He shrugs "Not my problem"   
***  
**Night has fallen.  
**  
Margaret is looking around the Tardis "This ship is impossible. It's superb. How do you get the outside around the inside?" Nova snorts out a laugh as the Doctor tells her "Like I'd give you the secret, yeah."

"I almost feel better about being defeated. I never stood a chance. This is the technology of the gods." Nova narrows her eyes at the Slitheen, not trusting her it almost feels like she gave up too easily.

"Don't worship me - I'd make a very bad god. You wouldn't get a day off, for starters." He tells her then turns to Jack "Jack, how we doing, big fella?"

"This extrapolator's top of the range. Where did you get it?" Jack tells them aiming the question at Margaret. "Oh, I don't know. Some airlock sale?"

"Must've been a great big heist. It's stacked with power." "But we can use it for fuel?" the Doctor questions. "It's not compatible, but it should knock off about twelve hours. We'll be ready to go by morning." Jack tells him.

"Then we're stuck here overnight." "I'm in no hurry," Margaret tells them.

Rose grins "We've got a prisoner. The police box is really a police box." "You're not just police, though. Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners. Each and every one of you." Margaret tells her. Nova shrugs "you did try to kill us... I don't take too kindly to people that try and kill me.... so I think it's only fair, you get what you deserve" Mickey nods agreeing with Nova "Well, you deserve it."

"You're very quick to say so. You're very quick to soak your hands in my blood, which makes you better than me, how, exactly? Long night ahead Let's see who can look me in the eye." Nova holds her gaze for a few minutes before looking away, nobody else looks Margaret in the eye.

***

Mickey looks at the water tower. Rose joins him. "It's freezing out here!" "Better than in there. She does deserve it. She's a Slitheen. I don't care. It's just weird in that box."

"I didn't really need my passport." Rose tells him "I've been thinking, you know, we could go have a drink. Have a pizza or something. Just you and me." Rose smiles "That'd be nice."

"And, I mean, if the Tardis can't leave until morning, we could go to a hotel, spend the night. I mean, if you want to. I've got some money." Mickey tells her "Okay, yeah." Rose agrees "Is that all right?" Rose nods "Yeah." "Cool. There's a couple of bars around here. We should give them a go. Do you have to go and tell him?" "It's none of his business" Mickey looks at her "what about Nova?" Rose smirks shaking her head "Nah, Nova would rather stay with Jack"

***

The Doctor watches Mickey and Rose on the scanner. Jack and Nova come over to him and Jack asks "So, what's on?" "Nothing, just," Nova smirks knowing that he was watching the outside camera on the Tardis because Mickey and Rose were out there.

"I gather it's not always like this, having to wait. I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go. You butchered my family and then ran for the stars, am I right? But not this time. At last, you have consequences. How does it feel?"

"I didn't butcher them." He tells her in a snappy tone "Don't answer back. That's what she wants." Jack tells him, Nova nods agreeing with Jack.

The Doctor looks at Margaret "I didn't. What about you? You had an emergency teleport. You didn't zap them to safety, did you?" "It only carries one. I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up on a skip in the Isle of Dogs." The Doctor and Nova both laugh "It wasn't funny." "Sorry. It is a bit funny." Nova smirks "it was more than a bit funny"

Margaret looks at the Doctor "Do I get a last request?" "Depends on what it is." He tells her."I grew quite fond of my little human life. All those rituals. The brushing of the teeth, and the complicated way they cook things. There's a little restaurant just round the Bay. It became quite a favorite of mine." Margaret tells him. "Is that what you want, a last meal?" "Don't I have rights?"

Jack scoffs "Oh like she's not going to try to escape." Nova looks at her dad "Jack has a point"

"Except I can never escape the Doctor, so where's the danger? I wonder if you could do it? To sit with a creature, you're about to kill and take supper. How strong is your stomach?"

"Strong enough." The Doctor states "I wonder. I've seen you fight your enemies, now dine with them." Margaret almost challenges "You won't change my mind." The Doctor tells her.

"Prove it." The Doctor looks at her "There are people out there. If you slip away just for one second, they'll be in danger."

"Except I've got these." Jack holds up two bangles. "You both wear one. If she moves more than ten feet away, she gets zapped by ten thousand volts" Jack tells them, Nova smirks knowing there is no way that Margaret could get away from her father now.

The Doctor looks at her "Margaret, would you like to come out to dinner? My treat." "Dinner in bondage. Works for me." Margaret tells him with a smirk.

And so Jack and Nova are left to carry on mending the Tardis whilst the two couples go out for their dinners.

Nova looks at Jack "do I even want to know why you have electified handcuff?" Jack just smirks at her "probably not" Nova laughs as they get back to work with the extrapolater. 

***

Margaret looks at the Doctor from across the table "Here we are, out on a date, and you haven't even asked my proper name." "It's not a date" The Doctor corrects before asking "What's your name?"

"Blon. I am Blon Fel Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen. That's what it'll say on my death certificate."

"Nice to meet you, Blon." "I'm sure. Look, that's where I was living as Margaret. Nice little flat, over there, on the top. Next to the one with the light on." The Doctor turns to look and she puts some powder from her ring into his wine. "Two bedrooms, bayside view. I was rather content. Don't suppose I'll see it again."

The Doctor swaps the glasses over. "Suppose not."

"Thank you."

"Pleasure." The Doctor tells her. "Tell me then, Doctor. What do you know of our species?" "Only what I've seen." He tells her.

"Did you know, for example, in extreme cases, when her life is in danger, a female Raxacoricofallapatorian can manufacture a poison dart within her own finger." She points. The dart flies and the Doctor catches it. "Yes, I did." He tells her rather smugly

"Just checking. And one more thing. between you and me." They look around then lean forward so Margaret can whisper. "As a final resort, the excess poison can be exhaled through the lungs." Margaret starts to exhale. The Doctor uses a breath freshener on her. "That's better. Now then, what do you think? Mmm, steak looks nice. Steak and chips."

***

Rose is looking at Mickey telling him a story "The Doctor took me and Nova to this planet a while back. It was much colder than this. They called it Woman Wept. The planet was actually called Woman Wept, because if you looked at it, right, from above, there's like this huge continent, like all curved round. It sorts of looked like a woman, you know, lamenting. Oh my God, and we went to this beach, right. No people, no buildings, just this beach like a thousand miles across. And something had happened, something to do with the sun, I don't know, but the sea had just frozen. In a split second, in the middle of a storm, right, waves and foam, just frozen, all the way out to the horizon. Midnight, right, we walk underneath these waves a hundred feet tall, made of ice."

"I'm going out with Trisha Delaney." Mickey blurts out "Right. That's nice. Trisha from the shop?" Rose questions "Yeah, Rob Delaney's sister."

"Well, she's nice. She's a bit big." Rose states "She lost weight. You've been away." Mickey tells her, Rose nods "Well, good for you. She's nice."

Mickey looks at her "So, tell us more about this planet, then." "That was it, really"

***

"Public execution's a slow death. They prepare a thin acetic acid, lower me into the cauldron and boil me. The acidity is perfectly gauged to strip away the skin. Internal organs fall out into the liquid, and I become soup. And still alive, still screaming."

"I don't make the law." The Doctor tells her "But you deliver it. Will you stay to watch?" "What else can I do?" he questions her.

"The Slitheen family's huge. There's a lot more of us, all scattered off-world. Take me to them. Take me somewhere safe."

The Doctor shakes his head "But then you'll just start again." "I promise I won't."

"You've been in that skin suit too long. You've forgotten. There used to be a real Margaret Blaine. You killed her and stripped her and used the skin. You're pleading for mercy out of a dead woman's lips." The Doctor tells her. "Perhaps I have got used to it. A human life, an ordinary life. That's all I'm asking. Give me a chance, Doctor. I can change." She pleads with him.

"I don't believe you," he tells her

***  
Mickey looks at Rose "So, what do you want to do now?" "Don't mind." Rose tells him "We could ask about hotels." Mickey suggests "What would Trisha Delaney say?" Rose says "Suppose. There's a bar down there with a Spanish name or something"

"You don't even like Trisha Delaney!" Rose tells him.

Mickey looks at her "Oh, is that right? What the hell do you know?" "I know you, And I know her. And I know that's never going to happen. So who do you think you're kidding?" Rose tells him

"At least I know where she is!" Mickey exclaims raising his voice a little "There we are, then. It's got nothing to do with Trisha. This is all about me, isn't it"

"You left me! We were nice, we were happy. And then what? You give me a kiss and you run off with him, and you make me feel like nothing, Rose. I was nothing. I can't even go out with a stupid girl from a shop because you pick up the phone and I come running. I mean, is that what I am, Rose, standby? Am I just supposed to sit here for the rest of my life, waiting for you? Because I will."

Rose looks down "I'm sorry"

***  
"I promise you I've changed since we last met, Doctor. There was this girl, just today. A young thing, something of a danger. She was getting too close. I felt the blood lust rising, just as the family taught me, I was going to kill her without a thought. And then I stopped. She's alive somewhere right now. She's walking around this city because I can change. I did change. I know I can't prove it" Margaret tells him trying to plead to be set free.

"I believe you." Margaret looks at him hopefully "Then you know I'm capable of better." The Doctor shakes his head "It doesn't mean anything." "I spared her life."

The Doctor looks at her "You let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim's spared because she smiled, because he's got freckles because they begged. And that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions. Because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction, you happen to be kind." 

"Only a killer would know that. Is that right? From what I've seen, your funny little happy go lucky little life leaves devastation in its wake. Always moving on because you dare not look back. Playing with so many people's lives, you might as well be a god. And you're right, Doctor. You're absolutely right. Sometimes you let one go. Let me go"

****  
Mickey looks at Rose "I'm not asking you to leave him, because I know that's not fair. But I just need something, yeah? Some sort of promise that when you do come back, you're coming back for me."

There is a deep rumble.

Rose looks at Mickey "Is that thunder?" "Does it matter?" "That's not thunder" Rose declares.   
  
****  
"In the family Slitheen, we had no choice. I was made to carry out my first kill at thirteen. If I'd refused, my father would have fed me to the Venom Grubs. If I'm a killer, it's because I was born to kill. It's all I know. Doctor, are you even listening to me?"

"Can you hear that?" the Doctor asks her "I'm begging for my life." "No, listen, shush." The Doctor shushes her. The glasses begin to vibrate, then the plate glass window shatters. Customers scream.

****  
People flee the exploding street lights and windows. Rose runs. Mickey yells after her "Oh, go on then, run! It's him again, isn't it? It's the Doctor! It's always the Doctor! It's always going to be the Doctor. It's never me!" 

****  
Margaret can't keep up with the Doctor. "The handcuffs!" She tells him. He waits for her, then takes it off.

"Don't think you're running away." He tells her, "Oh, I'm sticking with you. Some date this turned out to be!" Energy is streaming from the Tardis into the sky. "It's the rift. The rift's opening!"

****  
Things are going sput! Cracks open up in the plaza.

The Doctor runs up "What the hell are you doing??" Jack looks at him "It just went crazy!" Nova looks at them "guys it's the rift... it opening" The Doctor nods "Time and space are ripping apart. The whole city's going to disappear!" Bang! Rose runs into the plaza and sees what is happening.

"It's the extrapolator. I've disconnected it but it's still feeding off the engine! It's using the Tardis. I can't stop it!" Jack tells them. "Never mind Cardiff, it's going to rip open the planet." The Doctor adds

Rose enters.

"What is it? What's happening?!" Margaret smirks "Oh, just little me." Margaret takes an arm out of her bodysuit and grabs Nova. "One wrong move and she snaps like a promise." Rose narrows her eyes at the alien holding her best friend.

"I might've known." The Doctor tells her, Margaret smirks "I've had you bleating all night, poor baby, now shut it. You, flyboy, put the extrapolator at my feet." Margaret tightens her grip on Nova's neck. The Doctor nods and Jack obeys.

"Thank you. Just as I planned." Rose looks at her "I thought you needed to blow up the nuclear power station."

"Failing that, if I were to be arrested, then anyone capable of tracking me down would have considerable technology of their own. Therefore, they would be captivated by the extrapolator. Especially a magpie mind like yours, Doctor. So, the extrapolator was programmed to go to plan B. To lock onto the nearest alien power source and open the rift. And what a power source it found. I'm back on schedule, thanks to you."

"The rift's going to convulse. You'll destroy the whole planet." Jack tells her, Margaret looks at them smugly "And you with it!" Margaret stands on the extrapolator. "While I ride this board over the crest of the inferno all the way to freedom. Stand back, boys. Surf's up."

The Tardis console cracks open and bright light hits Margaret. Nova smirks "Of course, opening the rift means you'll pull this ship apart."Margaret shrugs "So sue me." The Doctor grins getting what Nova was saying "It's not just any old power source. It's the Tardis. My Tardis. The best ship in the universe."

"It'll make wonderful scrap," Margaret tells them nonchalantly, but the smirk doesn't leave Nova's face. "What's that light?" Rose asks "that Ro is the heart of the Tardis." Nova tells her best friend with a smirk, the Doctor nods "This ship's alive. You've opened its soul."

"It's so bright." Margaret says, "Look at it, Margaret." The Doctor tells her "Beautiful." She says in a breathless whisper "Look inside, Blon Fel Fotch. Look at the light."

Margaret relaxes, and Nova gets free. Then she looks up at the Doctor, smiling. "Thank you." Margaret disappears into the light. The empty bodysuit crumples onto the extrapolator.

"Don't look. Stay there. Close your eyes!" The Doctor tells everybody. The Doctor closes the console.

The Doctor looks at Jack "Now, Jack, come on, shut it all down. Shut down! Rose, that panel over there, turn all the switches to the right. Nova you now what to do" Energy stops pouring into the sky.

"Nicely done. Thank you, all." The Doctor says to the three of them.

"What happened to Margaret?" Rose asks "Must've got burnt up. Carried out her own death sentence." Jack says while Nova shakes her head with a smile.

"No, I don't think she's dead." The Doctor tells her. 

"Then where'd she go?" Rose asks him.

"She looked into the heart of the Tardis. Even I don't know how strong that is. And the ship's telepathic, like I told you, Rose. Gets inside your head. Translates alien languages. Maybe the raw energy can translate all sorts of thoughts."

The Doctor finds a large egg with dreadlocks on the top inside the bodysuit.

"Here she is." The Doctor tells them. Rose looks at the egg "She's an egg?" "Regressed to her childhood." Nova informs them "She's an egg?" Jack repeats Rose's question.

The Doctor nods "She can start again. Live her life from scratch. If we take her home, give her to a different family, tell them to bring her up properly, she might be all right!"

"Or she might be worse." Jack states

"That's her choice."

"She's an egg," Rose says again. "She's an egg." Nova and the Doctor said at the same time.

Rose's eyes widen "Oh, my God. Mickey." Rose runs out and across the cracked plaza, back to Mermaid Quay where ambulances are taking away the injured. Mickey is watching from the shadows as she goes up to a paramedic and asks a question. Mickey walks away. She returns to the Tardis alone.

The Doctor looks at Rose "We're all powered up. We can leave. Opening the rift filled us up with energy. We can go if that's all right."

Rose nods "Yeah, fine."

"How's Mickey?" the Doctor asks her "He's okay. He's gone." Rose tells him, Nova gives her a small smile.

"Do you want to go and find him? We'll wait." The Doctor asks.

Rose shakes her head "No need. He deserves better."

"Off we go, then. Always moving on" The Doctor tells them.

Nova walks over and puts and arm around Rose's shoulder "It'll be okay Ro" Rose smiles at her "thanks Novs" Jack looks at them "Next stop, Raxacoricofallapatorius. Now you don't often get to say that." "We'll just stop by and pop her in the hatchery. Margaret the Slitheen can live her life again. A second chance."

Rose smiles "That'd be nice" Nova smiles too "yeah that'd be really nice" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys so here is 'Boom Town' next up is 'Bad Wolf' for the part about the game show I was thinking of putting Rose and Nova both in the weakest link what do you guys think? After Bad Wolf is 'Parting of the Ways' and Jackie finally finds out that Nova is The Doctor's daughter then we say goodbye to the 9th Doctor and then it's on to book 2. 


	14. Bad Wolf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Nova are both going to be in The Weakest Link.

**100 years after The Long Game.**

"What is it? What's happening?" The Doctor falls out of a small spinning cupboard.

Lynda looks at the Doctor "Oh, my God! I don't believe it! Why'd they put you in there? They never said you were coming." The Doctor looks confused "What happened? I was."

"Careful now. Oh! Oh, mind yourself! Oh, that's the transmat. It scrambles your head. I was sick for days. All right? So, what's your name then, sweetheart?" The Doctor is very unsteady. "The Doctor, I think. I was, er. I don't know, what happened? How"

Lynda grins at him "You got chosen." "Chosen for what?" The Doctor asks her still unsure of what is happening "You're a housemate. You're in the house. Isn't that brilliant?!"

Over by a pink screen with a stylized eye on it, a young man in a t-shirt is not amused. "That's not fair. We've got eviction in five minutes! I've been here for all nine weeks, I've followed the rules, I haven't had a single warning, and then he comes swanning in."

The dark-skinned young lady in the pink shirt joins in. "If they keep changing the rules, I'm going to protest, I am. You watch me, I'm going to paint the walls."

"Would the Doctor please come to the Diary Room?"

***  
The Doctor goes through a door with the stylized eye on it and sits in a comfy chair. "You are live on channel forty-four thousand. Please do not swear."

The Doctor does not look amused "You've got to be kidding."

***  
Rose and Nova wake up on a studio floor. A dark-skinned man is bending over them. Rose looks between Nova and the dark-skinned man "What happened?"

Nova looks back at her just as confused "I have no idea Ro" the dark-skinned man Rodrick looks at the two girl's "It's all right. It's the transmat. Does your head in. Get a bit of amnesia. What are your names?"

"Rose, but where's the Doctor?" "I'm Nova I have no idea, Rose "

Rodrick looks at the two "Just remember do what the android says. Don't provoke it. The android's word is law."

Rose looks confused "What do you mean, android? Like a robot?" Nova shakes her head trying to get her bearings still.

A woman calls out instructions. "Positions, everyone! Thank you!"

"Come on, hurry up. Steady, steady." Rodrick helps Rose up. Then helps Nova up. They are both wobbly on their feet.

Rose starts talking "we were traveling, with the Doctor and a man called Captain Jack. The Doctor wouldn't just leave us"

"That's enough chat. Positions! Final call! Good luck!"

"But I'm not supposed to be here." Nova nods in agreement "neither am I"

Rodrick nods towards the podiums it says Rose and Nova on the podiums. Come on."

Nova takes her place next to Rose who takes her place next to Rodrick.

"Hold on, I must be going mad. It can't be. This looks like the" Novas eyes widen "oh my god I think I know where we are"

"Android activated!" Rose looks at Nova wide-eyed "Oh, my God, the android. The Anne droid."

"Welcome to The Weakest Link!"

Nova nods "yep that's what I was afraid of"

***  
"Here we go again. We've got our work cut out for us." "I don't know. He's sort of handsome. Has a good lantern jaw." "Lantern jaws are so last year." Another pair of droids - one tall and thin, one short and curvy - have Jack lying on an examination couch. There is a rack of clothes nearby.

"Sorry, but, nice to meet you, ladies, but where exactly am I?" "We're giving you a brand new image." One of the droids tell him "Oh, hold on, I was with the Doctor. Why, is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?" "It's all very twentieth century. Where did you get that denim?" The other droid asks "A little place in Cardiff. It was called the Top Shop." Jack tells them.

"Ah! Design classic." "But we're going to have to find you some new colors. Maybe get rid of that Oklahoma Farm Boy thing you've got going on." "Just stand still and let the Defabricator work its magic."

Jack looks at the two droids "What's a defabricator?" It's a beam that disintegrates all, yes all, your clothes. Jack looks down then back up "Okay. Defabricator. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Am I naked in front of millions of viewers?" 

"Absolutely!" Both droids say at the same time. Jack smirks "Ladies, your viewing figures just went up."

***  
The Doctor is checking his surroundings with the sonic screwdriver. "I can't open it."

"It's got a deadlock seal, ever since Big Brother, five hundred and four when they all walked out. You must remember that." Lynda tells him. "What about this?" He asks pointing to an alcove with a picture in it.

"Oh, that's exoglass. You'd need a nuclear bomb to get through." "Don't tempt me."

"I know you're not supposed to talk about the outside world, but you must've been watching. Do people like me? Lynda. Lynda with a Y, not Linda with an I. She got forcibly evicted because she damaged the camera. Am I popular?" Lynda asks.

"I don't remember." The Doctor tells her not really paying attention, trying to figure out a way out of there. Lynda looks sad "Oh, but does that mean I'm nothing? Some people get this far just because they're insignificant. Doesn't anybody notice me?" "No, you're, you're nice. You're sweet. Everybody thinks you're sweet." Lynda smiles "Oh, is that right? Is that what I am? Oh, no one's ever told me that before. Am I sweet? Really?"

"Yeah. Dead sweet." The Doctor tells her in a tone that says he's not really interested but Lynda doesn't catch it and just smiles "Thank you."

"It's a wall. Isn't there supposed to be a garden out there or something?" "Don't be daft. No one's got a garden anymore. Who's got a garden? Don't tell me you've got a garden."

The Doctor shake shins head "No, I've just got the Tardis. I remember" "That's the amnesia! So what happened? Where did they get you?" Lynda questions. "We'd just left Raxacoriofallapatorius. Then we went to Kyoto. That's right, Japan in 1336, and we only just escaped."

***  
"We were together, we were laughing, and then there was this light. This white light coming through the walls, and then."

***  
"And then I woke up here."

"Yeah, that's the transmat beam. That's how they pick the housemates." Lynda tells him but the Doctor shakes his head "Oh, Lynda with a Y. Sweet little Lynda. It's worse than that. I'm not just a passing traveler. No stupid little transmat gets inside my ship. That beam was fifteen million times more powerful, which means this isn't just a game. There's something else going on."

The Doctor speaks into one of the Eyes on the walls, which are cameras of course. "Well, here's the latest update from the Big Brother house. I'm getting out. I'm going to find my friends, and then I'm going to find you."

***  
A man goes over to a woman who is using the same console bank as in Big Game. "Need a word." "Hold on, let me finish this." She has Weakest Link on her monitor. "Nineteen, eighteen."

***  
"Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen. Thank you, people. Transmitting in twelve, eleven, ten"  
Rose looks at Nova then back at Rodrick "But we need to find the Doctor"

"Just shut up and play the game." Nova nods "he's right Ro that's the way to get out of here is just play the game"

"Seven. six"

Rose nods "All right, then. What the hell. I'm going to play to win!" Nova smirks "not so fast Ro this could very well come down to you and me and you know how competitive I am"

"Three, and cue!"

The Anne Droid starts "Let's play The Weakest Link. Start the clock. Agorax, the name of which basic food stuff is an anagram of the word 'beard'?" 'Bread' Nova thinks. 

Agorax answers "Bread."

"Correct. Fitch in the Pan Traffic Calendar, which month comes after Hoob?"   
Fitch looks nervous "Is it Clavadoe?" Nova smirks nope 'Pandoff' "No, Pandoff. Rose, in maths, what is 258 minus 158?"

"One hundred!" Rose answers "Correct. Rodrick." "Bank." "Which letter of the alphabet appears in the word dangle but not in the word gland?" 'E' Nova thinks

"E." Correct. Nova, in social security, what D is the name of the payment given to Martian Drones? Nova smirks confidentially "Default." "Correct. Broff, the Great Cobalt Pyramid is built on the remains of which famous Old Earth Institute?"

"Er, Touchdown." Broff answers 'Wrong Torchwood' Nova thinks once again and is correct "No, Torchwood. Agorax, in language, all five examples of which type of letter appear in the word facetious?" 'Vowels'

"Vowels." He answers "Correct. Fitch, in biology, which blood cells contain iron? Red or white?" 'Red'

"White." Fitch answers "No, red. Rose, in the holovid series 'Jupiter Rising', the Grexnik is married to whom?" Nova smirks to herself knowing the answer right off the bat. 'Lord Daryvole' god I love that series.

***  
Rose is laughing "How should I know?" Hearing Rose laughs makes Nova start laughing as well "No, the correct answer is Lord Drayvole." The Anne Droid tells her.

The woman watching on the screen asks "Why are they laughing?" The Anne Droid moves on "Rodrick in maths, what is nine squared?" The woman looks surprised "Oh, my God, I don't think they know." the man Pavale tells her "And I've got a housemate who appeared out of nowhere. I told you, it's like the game's running itself."

***  
Jack is posing. "It's the buccaneer look. A little dash of pirate and just a tweak of President Schwarzenegger."Jack is looking in a mirror "Er, not sure about the vest. What about a little bit of color to lift it?" "Absolutely not. Never wear black with color. It makes the color looks cheap and the black look boring. Now, let's talk about jackets."

"I kind of like the first one." Jack tell them but one of the droids disagrees "No, that's a bit too much Hell's Angel. I think I like the shorter one. Look, waist length, nice and slimming, shows off the bum."

"Works for me." Jack agrees.

"Once we've got an outfit, we can look at the face. Ever thought about cosmetic surgery?" The other droid asks "I've considered it, yeah. A little lift around the eyes. tighten up the jawline. what do you think?" "Oh, let's have a bit more ambition. Let's do something cutting edge." Trine-E has a chainsaw for a forearm.

***  
The contestants are choosing the weakest link of the round. 

"So, Rose, what do you actually do?" The Anne Droid asks her. Rose shrugs "I just travel about a bit. Bit of a tourist, I suppose." Rose tells her "Another way of saying unemployed." "No" Rose denies "Have you got a job?" "Well, not really, no, but" The Anne Droid cuts her off "Then you are unemployed. And yet, you've still got enough money to buy peroxide. Why Fitch?" "Er, I think she got a few of the questions wrong, that's all." "Oh, you'd know all about that."

"Well, yeah, but I can't vote for myself, so it had to be Fitch. I'm sorry, that's the game. That's how it works. I had to vote for someone." Rose tells her.

Fitch is in tears. "Let me try again. It was the lights and everything. I couldn't think." "In fact, with three answers wrong, Broff was the weakest link in that round, but it's the votes that count."

"I'm sorry. Please. Oh God, help me!" Fitch pleads but it doesn't do anything "Fitch you are the weakest link. Goodbye!" A barrel comes out of Anne's mouth and a beam disintegrates Fitch.

"And we've gone to the adverts. Back in three minutes." The Floor Manager tells them.

"What's that? What's just happened?" Rose asks kind of shocked "She was the weakest link, she gets disintegrated. Blasted into atoms." Rodrick tells her. Nova shakes her head she figured she'd play stupid until it's down to the last three and then turn on the heat because that's the way to get to the end is to make them think you're not the biggest competitor that way they keep you in the competition.

Rose look appalled "But I voted for her. Oh, my. This is sick. All of you, you're just sick! I'm not playing this." Nova shakes her head "Ro don't just play the game"

"I'm not playing! I can't do it. I'm not. Please, somebody, let me out of here." "You are the weakest link." Broff runs across the studio and gets zapped by Anne. "Goodbye." Rodrick looks at Rose "your friend is right don't try to escape. It's play or die."

***  
Lynda looks at the Doctor "Doctor, they said all the housemates must gather on the sofa. You've got to." He just brushes her off "I'm busy getting out, thanks." "But if you don't obey, then all the housemates get punished."

"Well, maybe I'll be voted out, then." The Doctor says Strood scoffs "How stupid are you? You've only just joined, you're not eligible."

"Don't try anything clever or we all get it in the neck," Lynda tells him as the Doctor takes a seat on the sofa.

"Big Brother House this is Davina Droid. Crosbie, Lynda, and Strood, you have all been nominated for eviction. And the eighth person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is" there is a long pause before the Davina droid says "Crosbie!"

The Doctor leans back on the sofa, bored.

Lynda looks at her sadly "I'm sorry! Oh, I'm sorry! Sorry!" "Oh, it should've been me. Oh, that's not fair, Crosbie love."

"Crosbie, you have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you."

"I won't forget you." Lynda tells her as they hug "I'm sorry I stole your soap." Crosbie tells her "I don't mind, honestly." Lynda replies. "Thanks for the food. You're a smashing cook. Bless you." Strood tells her 

"Crosbie, please leave the Big Brother House." The Davina Droid tells her one last time. A door to a short white corridor opens, with another door at the far end.

"Bye, then. Bye, Lynda."

"Bye," Lynda tells her. Strood and Lynda make an arch, and Crosbie walks through.

"I don't believe it. Crosbie."

"It's only a game show. She'll make a fortune on the outside. Sell her story, release a record, fitness video, all of that. she'll be laughing." The Doctor tells them not knowing want really happens when a contestant is voted out.

Lynda looks at The Doctor "What do you mean, on the outside?"

"Here we go." Lynda and Strood run back to the sofa to watch Crosbie on the screen.

The Doctor looks at them "What are they waiting for? Why don't they just let her go?" Lynda looks at him "Stop it, it's not funny."

"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one." A beam comes down from the ceiling and hits Crosbie. After a few moments, she vanishes in a puff of smoke.

The Doctor is staring at the screen "What was that?" "Disintegrator beam," Strood tells him. "She's been evicted. From life." Lynda states sadly.

***  
"No one programmed the transmat, no one selected the new contestants. It is exactly like those stories." the woman rolls her eyes "Oh, don't start that again. I think you need to take a session off." Pavale looks at her suggestively "Well, I would, if you'd take it with me." The woman shuts him down "And don't start that again either."

"But the rumors go back decades, saying that something's been hidden up here. Underneath the transmissions."

"But the Controller would know. She watches everything." The woman tells him. "Maybe she just can't see it. You've got to allow for human error." The woman shakes her head "Well, that's your problem, then." She lowers her voice "I don't think she's been human for years."

A human woman has fiber optic filaments coming out of her head and torso. "Eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Transmit, transmit, transmit."

***  
The Doctor looks at them "Are you insane? You just step right into the disintegrator? Is it that important, getting your face on the telly? Is it worth dying for?" "You're talking like we've got a choice!" Lynda snaps at him. The Doctor looks at her "But I thought you had to apply." Strood scoffs "Don't be so stupid. That's how they played it centuries back."

"You get chosen whether you like it or not. Everyone on Earth is a potential contestant. The transmat beam picks you out at random. And it's non stop. There are sixty Big Brother houses running all at once." Lynda explains

"How many? Sixty?" Strood looks at The Doctor "They've had to cut back. It's not what it was."

"It's a charnel-house! What about the winners? What do they get?" The Doctor asks them "They get to live." Lynda answers him. "Is that it?" The Doctor asks like he was expecting it to be more than that. Lynda looks at him "Well, isn't that enough?"

"Rose is out there and my daughter Nova. They got caught in the transmat. They're contestants. Time I got out. That other contestant, er, Linda with an I. She was forcibly evicted for what?"

"Damage to property," Lynda tells him. "What, like this?" The Doctor sonic screwdrivers a camera into oblivion.

***  
Jack is in tennis whites. "No, I'm just not getting this. It's just too safe. Too decent. And you'd never keep it clean."

"Stage two, ready and waiting."

Jack smirks "Bring it on, girls." His clothes are disintegrated.

"And now it's time for the face-off!" "What does that mean? Do I get to compete with someone else?" Jack asks curiously. "No. Like I said, face off." She starts up her chainsaw. "I think you'd look good with a dog's head." A large pair of scissors start up.

"Or maybe no head at all. That would be so outrageous." "And we could stitch your legs to the middle of your chest." "Nothing is too extreme. It's to die for."

"Now, hold on, ladies. I don't want to have to shoot either one of you." Jack tells them warningly. "But you're unarmed!" The Trine-e droid exclaims and the Zu-Zana droid says "You're naked!"

Jack produces a small hand weapon from somewhere behind him, "But. that's a Compact Laser Deluxe!" "Where were you hiding that?" "You really don't want to know," Jack tells them. "Give me that accessory." Jack shoots Trine-E's head off, then Zu-Zana's. If only...

***  
And it's down to the final four Rodrick, Nova, Agorax and Rose one of them is back to be voted off.

Rose looks at Nova noticing the smirk on her face "vote me and you do what you gotta do" Nova looks at her "What no I'm not killing you Ro" Rose gives her a look "Do it Novs" tears well in Nova's eyes "are you sure?" Rose nods " Yeah Novs, you've been holding back the whole game I could tell by the look on your face that you knew every answer but played it off to make it this far so yeah I'm sure... Do it, but do one thing for me? Beat his ass into the ground when you get to the finals"

Nova nods as they all hold up cards voting someone off. "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" Rose is 'atomized.' Nova closes her eyes and takes a deep breath composing herself once again. 

"Going to the break! Two minutes on the clock. Just a reminder we've got solar flare activity coming up in ten. Thanks, everyone."

Nova rolls her neck "Why'd you vote for Rose?" Rodrick smirks at her "Because I want to keep you in. You're stupid! She got more right than you. You don't even know the Princess Vossaheen's surname. When it comes to the final, I want to be up against you, so that you get disintegrated and I get a stack load of credits courtesy of the Bad Wolf Corporation."

Nova looks at him with a raised eyebrow "What do you mean? Who's Bad Wolf?" "They're in charge. They run the Game Station." "Okay, but why are they called Bad Wolf?" Rodrick shrugs "I don't know. It's just a name. It's like an Old Earth nursery rhyme sort of thing what does it matter?"

Nova shakes her head "I keep hearing those words everywhere we go. Bad Wolf." It shows in her memory all the times they have seen or heard 'Bad Wolf'

GWYNETH [memory]: The things you've seen. The darkness. The big bad wolf   
VAN STATTEN'S HELICOPTER [memory]: Attention all personnel. Bad Wolf One descending.   
DOCTOR [memory]: Blaidd Drwg.   
ROSE [memory]: What's it mean?   
DOCTOR and NOVA [memory]: Bad Wolf.   
Bad Wolf graffitied on the side of the Tardis, the Face of Boe on the Bad Wolf tv channel.

Nova is muttering to herself "Different times. different places, like it's written all over the Universe."

Rodrick looks at her "What're you going on about?" Nova smirks "If the Bad Wolf is in charge of this quiz, then maybe I'm not here by mistake. Rose and I were put here for a reason. Someone's been planning this."   
  
***  
Lynda is looking out of the window "Blimey! I've never seen it for real before. Not from orbit. Planet Earth." The Doctor comes up beside her "What's happened to it?"

"Well, it's always been like that Ever since I was born. See that there? That's the Great Atlantic Smog Storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breathe outside." Lynda explains to him

"So, the population just sits there? Half the world's too fat, and half the world's too thin, and you lot just watch telly?" "Ten thousand channels, all beaming down from here."

The Doctor shakes his head "The Human Race. Brainless sheep being fed on a diet of. Mind you, have they still got that program where three people have to live with a bear?"

"Oh, Bear with Me. I love that one!" Lynda exclaims "And me. The celebrity edition where the bear got in the bath." Lynda laughs "Got in the bath!"

"But it's all gone wrong. I mean, history's gone wrong again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. I don't understand. Last time I was here I put it right." "No, but that's when it first went wrong. A hundred years ago, like you said. All the news channels, they just shut down overnight."

"But that was me. I did that." The Doctor tells her

"There was nothing left in their place. No information. The whole planet just froze. The government, the economy, collapsed. That was the start of it. One hundred years of hell."

"Oh, my. I made this world."

***  
Agorax screams as he gets disintegrated.

"That leaves Nova and Rodrick. You're going head to head. Let's play The Weakest Link." Rodrick looks at Nova "Right, that's the end of tactical voting. You're on your own now." Nova rolls her neck again and smirks at Rodrick when he looks at her it sends an uneasy feeling through his body.   
  
***  
The Doctor hears Jack call "Hey, handsome. Good to see you? Any sign of Nova or Rose?" "Can't you track them down?" Jack shakes his head "they must still be inside the games. All the rooms are shielded." "If I can just get inside this computer. They've got to be here somewhere."

The Doctor is working on the console Adam used a century before.

"Well, you'd better hurry up. These games don't have a happy ending." Jack tells him. "Do you think I don't know that?"

Jack hands over his wrist computer. "There you go, patch that in. It's programmed to find Nova and then we can find Rose."

The Doctor nods at him "Thanks." Jack smiles at Lynda "Hey, there." Lynda smiles back at him "Hello." "Captain Jack Harkness." "Lynda Moss." "Nice to meet you, Lynda Moss." The Doctor intervenes "Do you mind flirting outside?" "I was just saying hello!" "For you, that's flirting."

"I'm not complaining." Lynda tells them with a smile "Muchas gracias." "It's not compatible. This stupid system doesn't make sense." The Doctor gives the computer to Lynda and kicks the console. Jack takes off the front plate.

"This place should be a basic broadcaster, but the systems are twice as complicated. It's more than just television. This station's transmitting something else." "Like what?" Jack asks "I don't know. This whole Bad Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulated my entire life. It's some sort of trap and Nova and Rose are stuck inside it."

***  
"Nova, in geography, the Grand Central Ravine is named after which ancient British city?" "Sheffield" Nova answers the smirk never leaving her face

"That is the correct answer" now Rodrick is starting to look nervous.

***  
"Found Nova. Floor four oh seven." Lynda looks at him alarmed "Oh, my God, she's with the Anne Droid. You've got to get her out of there."

***

"Rodrick, in literature, the author of Lucky was Jackie who?"

"Stewart."

"No, the correct answer is Collins. Nova, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?"

Nova smirks at Rodrick again "Boe! The Face of Boe!"

"That is the correct answer."

***

"Come on, come on.!"

***

"Rodrick, in history, who was the President of the Red Velvets?"

"Hoshbin Frane."

"That is the correct answer. Nova, in food, the dish Gaffabeque originated on which planet?"

"Lucifer"

"That is the correct answer. Rodrick, which measurement of length is said to have been defined by the Emperor Jate as the distance from his nose to his fingertip?"

"Would that be a goffle?"

"No, the correct answer is a paab. Nova, in fashion, Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?" Nova shoots a smug smile at Rodrick "Hats" "That is the correct answer"

***  
"Rodrick, in physics, who discovered the Fifteen Dash Ten Barric Fields?" they hear from outside. The Doctor looks at Lynda "Game Room Six, which one is it??"

"Over here!" they run over.

"San Hazeldine."

"No. the correct answer is San Chen."

"Stand back, let me blast it open." The Doctor stops him "You can't. it's made of Hydra combination"

***

The final question. "Nova, in history, which Icelandic city hosted Murder Spree Twenty?"

"Pola Ventura"

"That is the correct answer" Nova got them all right and Rodrick got 2 right Rodrick looks at Nova wide-eyed "oh my god... how? But? I lost?" Nova smirks at him "sorry bud you don't get this far by being the smartest person in the room even when you are the smartest person in the room"

***  
The Doctor is working on the lock to the studio.

"Come on, come on, come on."   
***  
Nova smirks "now let me out of here I need to find my dad and Jack"

"Nova, you are the strongest link, you will be transported home with one thousand six hundred credits." Nova rolls her eyes "I don't care about that" The Doctor runs in "Nova! Stop this game!" Nova shakes her head with a sad smile "I won"

"Rodrick, you leave this life with nothing."

"Stop this game!"

"I order you to stop this game!"

"You are the weakest link."

Nova looks at her Dad and Jack running towards her "Look out for the Anne Droid, it's armed!"

Anne Droid shoots Rodrick.

Nova runs towards Jack and her dad. "Back off!" Jack tells them as he hugs Nova, The Doctor looks at Nova "where's Rose?" Nova gives him a sad smile "she was here too, but she got eliminated" "she's gone?" Nova nods with a sad look on her face. 

"I need security and I need it here right now! It's this lot." A security guard takes the Doctors arm "Don't you touch him! Leave him alone!" Jack point his gun at the guard "Sir, put down the gun or I'll have to shoot."

Nova narrows her eyes "You killed her! You killed Rose, my best friend is dead because your stupid freaking game show killed her." Jack is still pointing his big gun at the guards "Sir, I'm arresting you under Private Legislation Sixteen of the Game Station Syndicate."

***  
"Can you tell us the purpose of this device, sir? Can you tell us how you got on board?" Nova rolls her eyes at the guard questioning her father about his Sonic

"Just leave him alone," Lynda tells them. Nova looks at her "and you are?" "Lynda Moss" "Nova, the Doctor is my father"

"I'm asking him." He tells Lynda "Sir? Can you tell us who you are?" The Doctor's mug shots are taken, front and both profiles. "You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal Colony, there to be held without trial. You may not appeal against this sentence. Is that understood?"

A second guard unlocks the cage to let his colleague out.

The Doctor nods "Let's do it." Jack leads the fight out. The two guards are knocked out and Jack reclaims his Defabricator while the Doctor retrieves his sonic screwdriver. Lynda and Nova take the guard's weapons.  
***  
Pavale looks wide-eyed "Oh, my God. Now we're in trouble"

***  
"Floor 500."   
***  
Pavale sounds the alarm. "Clear the floor. He's on his way up here with a gun!" Pavale announces "This is an emergency! You've got to close the lift!"

"All staff are reminded that solar flares commence in delta point two." The Controller announces. "Never mind solar flares, he's going to kill you!" Pavale tries to tell her.

The lift arrives.

Jack steps out first "Okay, move away from the desk! Nobody try anything clever. Everybody clear. Stand to the side and stay there." The Doctor walks out next with Nova and Lynda behind him "Who's in charge of this place?"

"Nineteen, eighteen."

The Doctor looks around "This Satellite's more than a Game Station."

"Seventy-nine, eighty."

"Who killed Rose Tyler?" The Doctor asks

"All staff are reminded that solar flares"

"I want an answer!" the Doctor demands, Nova steps up beside him "we both want answers" "Occur in delta point one." The Controller continues. "She can't reply. Don't shoot!" Pavale tells them.

Nova smirk as her father replies "Oh, don't be so thick. Like I was ever going to shoot." The Doctor throws his weapon at Pavale, the turns to Jack "Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits."

"Yes, sir." Jack nods and walks off to secure the exits.

The Doctor point at Pavale "You. What were you saying?" "But I've got your gun." Nova lets out a snort as her father answers the man "Okay, so shoot me. Why can't she answer?"

Pavale looks at the gun awkwardly "She's er. Can I put this down?" "If you want. Just hurry up." Pavale quickly sits the gun down "Thanks. Sorry. The Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain. You're not a member of staff so she doesn't recognize your existence."

"What's her name?" the Doctor asks him. "I don't know. She was installed when she was five years old. That's the only life she's ever known." Jack comes back "Door's sealed. We should be safe for about ten minutes."

The Doctor nods "Nova you and Jack keep an eye on them" she nods and walk over to Jack carrying one of the guns she picked up from a guard. "But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the Game Station. I think you're right. I've kept a log. Unauthorized transmats, encrypted signals, it's been going on for years."

"Show me."

Jack tries to open Archive Six but a woman stops him "You're not allowed in there. Archive Six is out of bounds." Nova raises her eyebrow at her then nods to Jacks gun "does he look like an out of bounds sort of guy?" The door opens. Nova follows Jack in and they walk up to the Tardis.  
***  
Jack operates the console.

Jack looks at Nova "What the hell?" she looks at it as well "what?"

***  
"Solar flare activity in delta point zero fifteen." "If you're not holding us, hostage, then open the door and let us out. The staff are terrified." A woman tells the Doctor "That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day." "That's not our fault. We're just doing our jobs."

The Doctor glares at her "And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to me. Now back off!"

The power drops.

Pavale looks at the Doctor "That's just the solar flares. They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal."

"Doctor." The Controller says. "Doctor?" The Doctor brushes the woman "Whatever it is, you can wait."

"I think she wants you." "Doctor? Doctor? Where's the Doctor?"

"I'm here." The Doctor tells her "Can't see. I'm blind. So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you." "What do you want?" "Solar flares hiding me. They can't hear me. My masters, they always listen but they can't hear me now the sun, the sun is so bright."

"Who are your masters?" the doctor questions

"They wired my head. The name's forbidden. They control my thoughts. My masters. My masters, I had to be careful. They monitor transmissions, but they don't watch the programs. I could hide you inside the games. Knew that you would find me."

"My friend died in your games."

"Doesn't matter."

"Don't you dare tell me that."

"They've been hiding. My masters hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth so, so, so many years. Always been there, guiding humanity, hundreds and hundreds of years."

"Who are they?" the Doctor presses.

"They wait and plan and grow in numbers. They're strong now. So strong, my masters."

"Who are they?" the Doctors asks again.

"But speak of you, my masters, they fear the Doctor."

"Tell me, who are they?" The Doctor almost demands. The power comes back on. "Twenty-one, twenty-two." The Controller speaks.

The Doctor looks at Pavale "When's the next solar flare?" "Two years time." He informs. "Fat lot of good that is."

Jack and Nova walk back out "Nova and I Found the Tardis."

"We're not leaving now." The Doctor tells them Nova smirks "no, but the Tardis... She worked it out" Jack nods continuing "You'll want to watch this. Lynda, could you stand over there for me please?"

Lynda looks at him "I just want to go home." "It'll only take a second. Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can. Everybody watching? Okay. three, two, one." A beam comes down and Lynda vanishes in a puff of smoke.

"But you killed her!" the Doctor exclaims and Nova smirks "oh you think?" Jack presses the button again and another beam brings Lynda back. Lynda looked at him "What the hell was that?"

"It's a transmat beam. Not a disintegrator, a secondary transmat system. People don't get killed in the games. they get transported across space." Nova smiles "Dad, Rose is still alive!" Jack and the Doctor hug, then Nova hugs her father and then Nova and Jack hug.

***  
There is a familiar rhythmic hum going on when Rose wakes up. Something approaches, looking at her through a round lens. Rose looks shocked "No, it can't be. You're dead. I saw you die!" A sink plunger blocks her way.  
***  
"She's out there somewhere." The Doctor tells them.

"Doctor. Coordinates five point six point one" The Controller starts "Don't, the solar flare's gone. They'll hear you." But she continues "Point four three four. No, my masters, no! I defy you! Stigma seven-seven"

The Controller disappears in a puff of smoke and a scream.

"They took her"

***  
"Oh, my masters, you can kill me, for I have brought your destruction." she gets Exterminated with a big smile on her face.

***  
"Look, use that. It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions."

Jack smiles at Pavale "Nice, Thanks. Captain Jack Harkness, by the way." "I'm Davitch Pavale." "Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale." "There's a time and a place." Nova snorts at her dads answer she feels better knowing for sure that Rose is still alive.

"Are you saying this entire set up's been a disguise all along?"

The Doctor nods "Going way back. Installing the Jagrafess a hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game, controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations."

"Click on this. The transmat delivers to that point, right on the edge of the solar system." Jack tells them "There's nothing there."

Nova looks at her dad wide-eyed then she smirks "It looks like nothing because that's what this satellite does. Underneath the transmission, there's another signal."

"Doing what?" Pavale asks "Hiding whatever's out there. Hiding it from sonar, radar, scanner. There's something sitting right on top of planet Earth, but it's completely invisible." He tells Pavale as Nova smirks at her father being clever "If I cancel the signal" A large flying saucer appears on a holo-viewscreen. Then we zoom out to reveal a lot, lot more of them.

Nova looks at her dad wide-eyed as Jack looks surprised "That's impossible. I know those ships. They were destroyed." "Obviously, they survived." A chill runs down Nova's spine as Lynda asks the Doctor "Who did? Who are they?"

"Two hundred ships. More than two thousand on board each one. That's just about half a million of them." Pavale is the one that asks this time "Half a million what?" "Daleks" Nova and The Doctor say together.

***  
"Alert. Alert. We are detected." "It is the Doctor. He has located us. Open communications channel." "The female will stand. Stand!" A holo-viewscreen pop into view with Floor 500 on it.

***  
"I will talk to the Doctor." The Doctor looks at it "Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" "The Dalek stratagem nears completion. The fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene." "Oh, really? Why's that, then?"

***  
"We have your associate"   
***  
"You will obey or" Rose is shown on the screen "She will be exterminated"   
***  
"NO!" The Doctor says. Everyone looks at the Doctor. Nova smirks they are about too see why some people call him The Oncoming Storm. "Explain yourself." The Dalek demands

"I said no."

"What is the meaning of this negative?" questions one of the Daleks.

"It means no" The Doctor tells it.

***  
"But she will be destroyed." The Dalek warns but the Doctor isn't having that "No!"

***  
"Because this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to rescue her."

***  
"I'm going to save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet"

***  
"And then I'm going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!"

***  
"But you have no weapons, no defenses, no plan" Nova smirks as she steps up beside her father "Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death." The Doctor is looking at Rose on the screen "Rose?"

"Yes, Doctor?" "I'm coming to get you." Transmission ends, courtesy of the sonic screwdriver.

"The Doctor is initiating hostile action."

"The stratagem must advance. Begin the invasion of Earth!" Dalek exclaims

"The Doctor will be exterminated!" Dalek 3 says then all the Daleks are shouting "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is 'Bad Wolf' next is 'Parting of the Ways' where we say goodbye to the 9th Doctor and hello to the 10th and that will be the end of Book 1 in THTL series.


	15. The Parting of The Ways

Dalek one is facing Rose "You know the Doctor. You understand him. You will predict his actions." "I don't know! And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you." Rose tells them. "Predict! Predict! Predict!"

"Tardis detected in flight." Dalek 2 says "Launch missiles. Exterminate." Dalek 1 commands "You can't! The Tardis hasn't got any defenses. You're going to kill him." "You have predicted correctly." Dalek 1 tells her.

***  
"We've got incoming!" Jack announces The Dalek missiles strike the Tardis, and there is a big fireball in the vacuum of space.

Jack smirks "The extrapolators working. We've got a fully functional forcefield. Try saying that when you're drunk." Nova smirks as well knowing that they weren't expecting that.

"And for my next trick." The Doctor tells them proudly. The Tardis materializes around Rose and the nearest Dalek. Nova smiles and calls out "Rose, get down! Get down, Rose!" "Exterminate!" The Dalek fires and misses. Jack takes out the Dalek with the modified Defabricator.

Rose smiles "You did it." The Doctor hugs Rose and when they let go, Nova envelopes Rose in a tight hug, who returns the hug just not as tight.

"Feels like I haven't seen you guys in years," Rose tells them. "I told you I'd come and get you." Rose smiles at him "Never doubted it." "I did. You all right?"

Rose nods "Yeah. You?" "Not bad, been better." Rose looks at Nova "what about you?" "I'm better now that I know my best friend is okay"

Jack interrupts "Hey, don't I get a hug?" Rose smiles "Oh, come here!" Jack smirks "I was talking to Nova. Rose laughs and Jack hugs Rose anyway.

"Welcome home."

"Oh, I thought I'd never see you guys again." "Oh, you were lucky. That was just a one-shot wonder. Drained the gun of all its power supply. Now it's just a piece of junk." Jack tells her.

***  
"Patience, my brethren." The Emperor Dalek says.

***  
Rose looks at Nova and The Doctor "You said they were extinct. How comes they're still alive?" Jack looks at them "One minute they're the greatest threat in the Universe, the next minute they vanished out of time and space."

"They went off to fight a bigger war. The Time War" The Doctor tells him. Jack looks surprised "I thought that was just a legend."

The Doctor shakes his head "I was there. The war between the Daleks and the Time Lords, with the whole of creation at stake. My people were destroyed, but they took the Daleks with them. I almost thought it was worth it. Now it turns out they died for nothing." Nova nods "I got out before everything was destroyed... my mum died getting me away from the war I was 14 physically she sacrificed herself, so I could get away" The Doctor smiles at his daughter. He didn't even know that part but it didn't surprise him at all Nova was her baby she would have faced all of Daleks at once if it would have distracted them from Nova.

Rose smiles at her sadly that being only the third time Nova had mentioned her mother "There are thousands of them now. We could hardly stop one. What're we going to do?"

"No good stood round here chin-wagging. The human race, you'd gossip all day. The Daleks have got the answers. Let's go and meet the neighbors." Rose looks at him wide-eyed "You can't go out there!"

***  
"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Daleks shout. The Dalek rays are stopped by a forcefield extending a good three meters out from the Tardis.

The Doctor looks around them "Is that it? Useless! Null points. It's all right come on out. That forcefield can hold back anything."

Jack comes out of the Tardis with Nova right behind him "Almost anything." The Doctor rolls his eyes "Yes, but I wasn't going to tell them that. Thanks." "Sorry," Jack tells him sheepishly.

"Do you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek Homeworld? The Oncoming Storm. You might've removed all your emotions, but I reckon right down deep in your DNA, there's one little spark left, and that's fear. Doesn't it just burn when you face me? So, tell me. How did you survive the Time War?" Nova smirks at her dad.

"They survived through me." They hear a deep robotic voice. The lights come up to reveal a large apparatus, which on closer inspection is an exploded giant Dalek casing, and a blue-skinned one-eyed mutant is happy for everyone to see it sitting there as if on its throne...

The Doctor looks at his three companions "Rose, Captain, Nova this is the Emperor of the Daleks."

"You destroyed us, Doctor. The Dalek race died in your inferno, but my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive." The emperor starts but the Doctor cuts in "I get it."

"Do not interrupt." "do not interrupt." "do not interrupt." Dalek 1, 2 and 3 say one after the other.

"I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor, and if there's one thing I can do, it's talk. I've got five billion languages, and you haven't got one way of stopping me. So, if anybody's going to shut up, it's you! Okey-doke. So, where were we?"

"We waited here in the dark space, damaged but rebuilding. Centuries passed, and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth, harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed. They all came to us. The bodies were filtered, pulped, sifted. The seed of the human race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured."

"So you created an army of Daleks out of the dead."

Nova and Rose look at each other and say "That makes them half-human." Together.

"Those words are blasphemy." The Emperor says.

"Do not blaspheme."

"Do not blaspheme."

"Do not blaspheme."

"Everything human has been purged. I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek."

"Since when did the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy?" The Doctor asks. Nova shrugs its news to her as well.

"I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the God of all Daleks!" all the Daleks start saying "Worship him. Worship him. Worship him."

The Doctor looks at Rose, Nova, and Jack "They're insane. Hiding in silence for hundreds of years, that's enough to drive anyone mad. But it's worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh. The stink of humanity. You hate your own existence. And that makes them deadlier than ever. We're going."

"You may not leave my presence." The Emperor says like they are going to listen to him.

"Stay where you are." Dalek 1 tells them.

"Exterminate!"

The Doctor, Rose, Nova, and Jack go back inside the Tardis. The Daleks start shooting at the forcefield again.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

***

You can hear the Daleks "Exterminate! Exterminate! Worship him! You will be exterminated!"

***  
The Tardis materializes.

"Turn everything up. All transmitters full power, wide open. Now! Do it!" The Doctor instructs as they exit the Tardis "What does this do?" Pavale questions "Stops the Daleks from transmatting on board. How did you get on? Did you contact Earth?"

"Well, we tried to warn them, but all they did was suspend our license because we stopped the programs." "And the planet's just sitting there, defenseless. Lynda, what're you still doing onboard? I told you to evacuate everyone."

"She wouldn't go." Pavale tells him "Didn't want to leave you." Nova rolls her eyes at the slight school girl crush Lynda seems to have on her father. "There weren't enough shuttles anyway, or I wouldn't be here. We've got about a hundred people stranded on Floor Zero."

***  
"Oh, my God. The Fleet is moving. They're on their way"

***  
"Purify the Earth with fire. The planet will become my temple and we shall rise. This will be our paradise." The Emperor instructs his army of Daleks.

***  
The Doctor is pulling bits out of the conduits.

"Dalek plan. Big mistake, because what have they left me with? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, come on, it's obvious." Nova smirk and raises her hand "Nova?" "A great big transmitter. This station." "that's right Nova If I can change the signal, fold it back, sequence it, anyone?"

Jack looks at him "You've got to be kidding."

"Give the man a medal."

"A Delta Wave?" Nova smirks "that's right a Delta Wave"

The Doctor nods "A Delta Wave!"

Rose looks confused "What's a Delta Wave?"

"A wave of Van Cassadyne energy. It fries your brain. Stand in the way of a Delta Wave and your head gets barbequed." Jack explains "And this place can transmit a massive wave. Wipe out the Daleks!"

Lynda looks at him "Well, get started and do it then."

"Trouble is, wave this size, building this big, brain as clever as mine and NOva's , should take about, oh, three days? How long till the Fleet arrives?"

Pavale looks at him "Twenty-two minutes."

Later, after some rerouting of bits and pieces. "We've now got a forcefield so they can't blast us out of the sky, but that doesn't stop the Daleks from physically invading."

"Do they know about the Delta Wave?" Pavale asks.

Jack nods "They'll have worked it out at the same time. So, they want to stop the Doctor. That means they've got to get to this level, five hundred. Now, I can concentrate the extrapolator around the top six levels, five hundred to four nine five. So they'll penetrate the station below that at level four nine four and fight their way up."

"Who are they fighting?" questions Pavale. Jack smirks "Us." "And what are we fighting with?" Jack looks at them "The guards had guns with bastic bullets. That's enough to blow a Dalek wide open." 

"There's six of us"

"Rose, Nova you can help me. I need all these wires stripped bare." The woman rolls her eyes "Right, now there's four of us."

"Then let's move it. Into the lift. Isolate the lift controls." Jack commands. Pavale and his colleague runoff. Lynda looks at the Doctor "I just want to say, er, thanks, I suppose, and I'll do my best." The Doctor nods "Me too." They shake hands and Lynda moves away.

Jack smiles at the three "It's been fun, but I guess this is goodbye." Rose looks at him "Don't talk like that. The Doctor's going to do it. You just watch him."

"Rose, you are worth fighting for." he kisses her on the head in like a brotherly type way "Wish I'd never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward." Jack kisses the Doctor then looks at Nova "and Nova, wish we would have met at a different time" he lays his Sonic blaster in her hand and kisses her.

"Maybe you get that to work again" Jack turns and looks at Rose, Nova and The Doctor "See you in hell" Jack leaves.

Rose looks at them "He's going to be all right, isn't he?" Nova smiles looking down at the blaster in her hands she wanted one and he gave her his and who knows maybe she can fix it.

***  
Jack stands on a pile of crates and fires a machine gun into the air to get some attention. "One last time! Any more volunteers? There's an army about to invade this station. I need every last citizen to mount a defense."

"Don't listen to him. There aren't any Daleks. They disappeared thousands of years ago." Rodrick tells them. The Floor Manager volunteers.

"Thanks. As for the rest of you, the Daleks will enter the station at floor four nine four and as far as I can tell, they'll head up, not down. But that's not a promise. So, here's a few words of advice. Keep quiet. And if you hear fighting up above, if you hear us dying, then tell me that the Daleks aren't real. Don't make a sound. Let's go."

Jack, Lynda, and the few volunteers all get in the lift.  
***  
Rose looks at the Doctor "Suppose." He looks at her "What?" Rose shakes her head "Nothing." "You said suppose." Nova nods "you did say it, Ro."

"No, I was just thinking. I mean, obviously you can't, but, you've got a time machine. Why can't you just go back to last week and warn them?" The Doctor shakes his head "As soon as the Tardis lands in that second, we become part of events, stuck in the timeline."

Rose nods "Yeah, thought it'd be something like that" The Doctor looks at his Daughter and Rose "There's another thing the Tardis could do. It could take us away. We could leave. Let history take its course. We go to Marbella in 1989."

Nova shakes her head as Rose answers "Yeah, but you'd never do that." "No, but you could ask. Never even occurred to you, did it?" Rose shakes her head "Well, I'm just too good."

"The Delta Wave's started building. How long does it need?" They run over to a console.

Rose looks at him "Is that bad? Okay, it's bad. How bad is it?" "Rose Tyler, you're a genius! We can do it. If I use the Tardis to cross my old timeline. Yes!" Nova follows them into the Tardis looking very skeptical of what is about to happen.

***  
"Hold that down and keep the position. And Nova hold this one down" Nova takes the lever and does as instructed. "What's it do?" "Cancels the buffers. If I'm very clever and I'm more than clever, I'm brilliant, I might just save the world. Or rip it apart"

"I'd go for the first one." Nova nods "so would I" "Me too. Now, I've just got to go and power up the Game Station. Hold on!"

The Doctor runs out and stops in the midst of his mares-nest of cables. He looks back at the Tardis then points the sonic screwdriver at it. The engines start. Nova's eyes widen as Rose calls out "Doctor, what're you doing? Can I take my hand off? It's moving." Rose runs to the door.

"Doctor, let us out!" Nova has tears in her eyes _'No daddy'_

***

"Let us out! Doctor, what've you done?" The Doctor hears Nova in his head _'no daddy don't do this' 'I'm sorry __Novs__ but it was for your own good just remember that I love you' and I'll be okay knowing that you are safe now 'I love you too daddy'_

The Tardis dematerializes.

***

A hologram appears.

"This is Emergency Program One. Nova, Rose, now listen, this is important. If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing. We must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape." Tears slip downs Nova's face "No!"

"And that's okay. Hope it's a good death. But I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing. The Tardis is taking you home."

"I won't let you," Rose says near tears as well

"And I bet you're fussing and moaning now. Typical. But hold on and just listen a bit more. The Tardis can never return for me. Emergency Program One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine and Nova not even you can override Emergency Program One. So, this is what you should do both of you. Let the Tardis die. Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it. No, one'll even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world will move on and the box will be buried. And if you want to remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all, one thing. Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life. And Nova, my sweet, sweet Nova just remember that I will always love you and it was nice to not be alone for a while"

The hologram flickers out. "You can't do this to me. You can't. Take me back! Take me back! No!" Nova can't even speak because of the tears rolling down her face. Rose tries to use the controls, but the engine stops. She runs outside into the Powell Estate, then back inside. "Come on, fly. How do you fly? Come on, help me!" Nova shakes her head and says through the tears "there's no use Ro, I can't even override this if I could I would be doing it right now"

***  
Rose finally gives up and goes outside Nova follows her out with tears still falling down her face. Mickey comes running down the road. "I knew it! I was all the way down Clifton Parade, and I heard the engines. I thought, there's only one thing that makes a noise like that. What is it?" Rose hugs him, in tears.

***  
"Nova, I've called up the internal laser codes. There should be a different number on every screen. Can you read them out to me?" "She's not here," The Doctor tells him.

***  
"Of all the times to take a leak" Jack jokes. "When she gets back, tell her to read me the codes." "She's not coming back" The Doctor informs him. "What do you mean? Where'd she go?" "Just get on with your work." "You took Nova and Rose home, didn't you?" "yeah"

***  
"The Delta Wave"   
***  
"Is it ever going to be ready?" the Dalek Emperor comes on the viewscreen "Tell him the truth, Doctor. There is every possibility the Delta Wave could be complete, but no possibility of refining it. The Delta Wave must kill every living thing in its path, with no distinction between human and Dalek."  
***  
"All things will die" 

"By your hand."

"Doctor, the range of this transmitter covers the entire Earth." Jack tells him. "You would destroy Daleks and Humans together. If I am God, the creator of all things, then what does that make you, Doctor?" "There are colonies out there. The Human Race would survive in some shape or form, but you're the only Daleks in existence. The whole Universe is in danger"

***  
"If I let you live."   
***  
"Do you see, Jack? That's the decision I've got to make for every living thing. Die as a human or live as a Dalek. What would you do?" Jack nods "You sent them home. They're safe. Keep working." "But he will exterminate you!" the Emperor says. "Never doubted him. Never Will" Jack says. 

***  
"Now, you tell me, God of all Daleks, because there's one thing I never worked out. The words Bad Wolf spread across time and space, everywhere, drawing me in. How'd you manage that?" "I did nothing." The Emperor insists "Oh, come on, there are no secrets now, your worship."  
***  
"They are not part of my design. This is the Truth of God." The Doctor looks up at the Bad Wolf Corporation sign on the wall.

***  
Whole chickens turn in a rotisserie. Jackie and Mickey are eating their meals out of polystyrene containers. 

Rose isn't hungry. And Nova is being quieter than they've ever seen her. Rose is watching her play around with the broken Sonic blaster that Jack gave her. "why'd Jack give you that?" Nova looks up at her "figured maybe I could tinker with it and fix it" "how?" "I've always been into tinkering with things I get it from my mum, she was an inventor, a builder, they called her The Architect... I can pretty much fix anything given the right tools because of her" Rose gives her a sad smile.

Jackie and Mickey are talking not really paying much attention to the two girls off in their own conversation. "And it's gone up market, this place. They're doing little tubs of coleslaw, now. It's not very nice. It tastes a bit sort of clinical." "Have you tried that new pizza place down Minto Road?"

Jackie looks at him "What's it selling?" "Pizza." Mickey tells her "That's nice. Do they deliver?"

"Yeah."

Jackie looks at Rose and Nova "Oh, Rose, Nova, have something to eat" she pushes the basket of chips towards them. "Two hundred thousand years in the future, he's dying, and there's nothing I can do." Nova gets up from the table and runs out of the Café with tears falling down her face once again because there is nothing she can do to save her father.

Jackie looks at Rose "Well, like you said two hundred thousand years. It's way off." Rose shakes her head "But it's not. It's now. That fight is happening right now, and he's fighting for us, for the whole planet, and I'm just sitting here eating chips."

"Listen to me. God knows I have hated that man, but right now, I love him, and do you know why? Because he did the right thing. He sent you and Nova back to me." Rose looks at her mum "But what do I do every day, mum? What do I do? Get up, catch the bus, go to work, come back home, eat chips and go to bed? Is that it?"

Mickey looks at her "It's what the rest of us do." Rose shakes her head "But I can't! Nova can't not now that she knows who she is" "Why because you're better than us?"

Rose shakes her head "No, I didn't mean that. But it was. It was a better life. And I don't mean all the traveling and seeing aliens and spaceships and things. That don't matter. The Doctor showed me a better way of living your life. You know he showed you too. That you don't just give up. You don't just let things happen. You make a stand. You say no. You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away, and I just can't"

Rose runs out of the café and catches up with Nova on a bench outside the Tardis and hugs her.

***  
"Right, Lynda, you are my eyes and ears. When the Daleks get in, you can follow it on that screen and report it to me." Jack commands.

"Understood," Lynda tells him.

"They'll detect you but the door's made of Hydra Combination. It should keep them out." "Should?" "It's the best I can do. How long till the Fleet arrives?" "They've accelerated." "This is it, ladies and gentlemen. We are at war!" Jack tells them.

Daleks stream out of the flying saucers towards Game Station. Or Satellite Five, if you prefer.

***  
Mickey is sitting beside Rose now "You can't spend the rest of your life thinking about the Doctor." Nova is sitting there just listening to them talk "But how do I forget him?" "You've got to start living your own life. You know, a proper life, like the kind he's never had. The sort of life that you could have with me."

Then Rose notices large letters painted on the tarmac of the play area and nudges Nova who looks up and sees it, her eyes widen seeing the words 'Bad Wolf' plaster everywhere.

"Over here. It's over here as well!"

"That's been there for years. It's just a phrase. It's just words."

Rose shakes her head and looks at Nova "I thought it was a warning. Maybe it's the opposite. Maybe it's a message. The same words written down now and two hundred thousand years in the future. It's a link between us and the Doctor. Bad Wolf here, Bad Wolf there."

"But if it's a message, what's it saying?" Nova smiles "it means we can save him, we can save my dad" Rose nods "It's telling me we can get back. The least we can do is help him escape."

***  
"Stand your ground, everyone. Follow my commands. And good luck." Jack tells everyone.

***  
"You were right. They're forcing the airlock on four nine four." Lynda informs. The whole satellite shakes, and the Daleks stream in.

***  
Mickey, Nova, and Rose are in the Tardis Rose looks at Mickey "All the Tardis needs to do is make a return trip. Just reverse."

"Yeah, but we still can't do it." "The Doctor always said the Tardis was telepathic. This thing is alive. It can listen." "It's not listening now, is it?" Mickey asks.

Rose looks at them "We need to get inside it. Last time I saw you, with the Slitheen, this middle bit opened, and there was this light, and the Doctor said it was the heart of the Tardis. If we can open it, I can make contact. I can tell it what to do."

"Rose." Mickey states "Mmm?"

"If you go back, you're going to die." Rose shrugs "That's a risk I've got to take because there's nothing left for me here." "Nothing?" Mickey asks looking disappointed. Rose shakes her head "No." "Okay, if that's what you think, let's get this thing open"

Nova looks at Rose "Ro I wanna get back more than you could possibly understand but looking into the heart of the Tardis... I don't even know how powerful that is... it could be dangerous just so you know" Rose nods "I realize that Novs" "okay, let me try first before we go to the extreme"

Rose looks at her "I thought you couldn't override it" "I don't think I can but I gotta try right? Before you go risking your life" "okay"

Nova is standing at the console while Rose and Mickey are standing a bit to the side "come on girl listen to me. We gotta go back and save daddy... Come on girl show me a spark of life" Nova pets the console affectionately, but nothing happens.

Nova turns to Rose "okay we tried it my way and it didn't work... now we do it yours" Rose nods.

***  
"Okay, activate internal lasers. Slice them up." Jack commands and The Floor Manager does so. "defenses have gone offline. The Dalek's have overridden the lot." Lynda informs them. The Floor Manager and other volunteers start shooting at the approaching Daleks. The bullets are absorbed into a forcefield around each Dalek.

The floor manager calls out to Jack "You lied to me! The bullets don't work!" She gets exterminated.

***  
Mickey has fastened a heavy chain to the tow hitch on his Mini. The other end is fastened to the Tardis console. He drives forward slowly, trying to pull it open.

"Faster!" Rose tells him. Jackie watches as the Mini burns rubber fruitlessly. "Come on!" "It's not moving!" The chain breaks. Rose kicks the console in frustration. Nova lets her shoulders sag down "come on! Spark! Show us some life"

***  
"Advance guard have made it"

***  
"To four nine-five," Lynda tells them.

"Jack, how're we doing?" the Doctor asks

***  
"Four nine-five should be good. I like four nine five."

***  
"Identify yourself!" "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" the Anne Droid says before she vaporizes three Daleks in quick succession.

***  
"Yes!" Jack quickly cheers

***  
"You are the weakest link" The next Dalek to enter blows her head off. "Goodbye."

"Proceed to next level" the Dalek commands.

***  
"They're flying up the ventilation shafts. No, wait a minute. Oh, my God. Why're they doing that? They're going down" Lynda asks in confusion.   
***  
  
"Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Daleks enter and cause panic. "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate." "You can't! You don't exist! It's not fair! I won the game! I should be rich! I'm a winner! You can't do this to me!" "Exterminate."

***  
Lynda turns off the sound on the console. "Floor Zero. They killed them all"

***  
Jackie looks at her daughter "It was never going to work, sweetheart. And the Doctor knew that. He just wanted you to be safe. Both of you" Nova shakes her head looking at Rose close to tears again "this is the second time someone close to me has sacrificed their life for mine... I can't just let him do this... not now, not when I know I can do something to save him... I couldn't save my mum, but I can save him... I can save my dad.... he knows how I am there has to be something here that I can trigger"

Rose nods at Nova before turning to her mum "we can't give up."

"Lock the door. Walk away." Jackie tells them "look Jacks I can't just walk away from him... he's my father, I can't just forget about him" Jackie looks at her wide-eyed "what?" then Rose looks at Jackie "Dad wouldn't give up." "Well, he's not here, is he? And even if he was, he'd say the same." Rose shakes her head "No, he wouldn't. He'd tell me to try anything. If I could save the Doctor's life, try anything."

"Well, we're never going to know." Jackie tells her but Rose isn't giving up "Well, I know because I met him. I met Dad." "Don't be ridiculous." "The Doctor took me back in time, and I met Dad." "Don't say that." Nova looks at Jackie "it's true Jacks she met him"

"Remember when Dad died? There was someone with him. A girl, a blonde girl. She held his hand. You saw her from a distance, Mum. You saw her! Think about it. That was me. You saw me." Rose continues to persist "Stop it." Jackie tells her but she doesn't "That's how good the Doctor is." "Stop it! Just stop it!" Jackie runs out.

***  
"Lynda! What's happening on Earth?" the Doctor questions.

***  
"The Fleet's descending. They're bombing whole continents. Europa, Pacifica, the New American Alliance. Australasia's just gone." Lynda tells him.

***  
"This is perfection. I have created Heaven on Earth." The Dalek Emperor states with joy well has much joy as a Dalek can show.

***  
"Floor 499, we're the last defense. The bullets should work if you concentrate them on the Dalek's eyestalk. I've got the forcefield at maximum, so Dalek firepower should be at its weakest."

"I'm only here because of you. I joined the Program because you were on it." Pavale confesses to his female coworker "Am I supposed to say, when this is all over and if we're still alive, maybe we could go for a drink?" he nods "That'd be nice." "Yeah, well, tough." But she gives him a wink and a smile.

***  
Mickey looks at Rose "There's got to be something else we can do." Rose sighs "Mum was right. Maybe we should just lock the door and walk away." Nova shakes her head "I don't care, Ro, I can't give up on my dad"

Mickey looks at Rose "I'm not having that. I'm not having you just, just give up now. No way. We just need something stronger than my car. Something bigger. Something like that." A big yellow recovery truck comes round the corner and stops by the Tardis. Jackie was driving.

"Right, you've only got this until six o'clock, so get on with it." Jackie tells them Rose looks at her "Mum, where the hell did you get that from?"

"Rodrigo. He owes me a favor. Never mind why, but you were right about your dad, sweetheart. He was full of mad ideas, and it's exactly what he would've done. Now, get on with it before I change my mind." Jackie throws the keys to Mickey.

***  
"Open fire!" Jack commands. The Doctor hears the gunfire and rushes to plug in a massive power cable. The defenders are firing through slits in pieces of bulkhead.

"It's not working!" Pavale tells him "Concentrate your fire! Eyestalk, two o'clock!" "My vision is impaired! I cannot see!" one of the Daleks say, "We did it!" the woman cheers and promptly gets exterminated.

"No! No!" Pavale shows himself, firing over the top of the barricade. Guess what happens to him.

***  
"I've got a problem," Lynda tells them "Human female detected." A Dalek says "they've found me" Lynda informs.

***  
"You'll be all right, Lynda. That side of the station's reinforced against meteors." The Doctor tells her.

***  
"Hope so! You know what they say about Earth workmanship." A Dalek with an oxy-acetylene torch instead of sink plunger starts cutting through the door. Then she turns to see four Daleks rising up outside the big window. One fires, breaking the glass. Lynda screams, just once.

***

Jack backs in, firing at Daleks."The last man standing! For God's sake, Doctor, finish that thing and kill them!" The Emperor comes on the view screen "Finish that thing and kill mankind"

***  
Once again, Jackie watches as Nova, Rose, and Mickey use a chain to try and pull the Tardis console open. Rose and Nova are inside the Tardis.

"Keep going!" Rose tells him "hit it, Mickey!" Nova calls out to him

"Put your foot down!" Jackie joins in "Faster!" Rose says again "Give it some more, Mickey!" "Keep going!" "Come on, come on!" "Keep going!" "Give it some more!"

The console burst open. Rose looks inside and golden energy streams into her eyes.

"Rose!" Mickey and Nova both call out at the same time. The Tardis doors slam shut on him, and the Tardis dematerializes.

***  
"Doctor, you've got twenty seconds maximum!" The Tardis hurtles through time, all the time sending energy into Rose. While Nova watched with wide eyes not really knowing what to expect here.

Jack runs out of bullets. He throws away the machine gun and takes out a pistol. Then that too is empty.

"Exterminate." The Dalek shouts at him "I kind of figured that." The blast throws Jack back into the lift.

"It's ready," The Doctor says as the Daleks enter from all sides. "You really want to think about this, because if I activate the signal, every living creature dies." The Doctor warns the Emperor "I am immortal." "Do you want to put that to the test?" the Doctor once again warns "I want to see you become like me. Hail the Doctor, the Great Exterminator."

"I'll do it!" "Then prove yourself, Doctor. What are you, coward or killer?" The Emperor challenges. But he cannot throw the final switch. "Coward. Any day."

"Mankind will be harvested because of your weakness." "And what about me? Am I becoming one of your angels?" "You are the heathen. You will be exterminated." "Maybe it's time."

The Doctor closes his eyes, and the Tardis materializes behind him. "Alert! Tardis materializing!" one of the Daleks announces. The Emperor looks at the Doctor "You will not escape!"

The Tardis doors open. Rose is silhouetted in a blinding golden light. Energy tendrils snake outwards. Nova standing behind her.

The Doctor looks at Rose "What've you done?" "I looked into the Tardis, and the Tardis looked into me." "You looked into the Time Vortex. Rose, no one's meant to see that." The Doctor tells her.

"This is the Abomination!" "Exterminate!" Rose stops the beam with her hand.

"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words, I scatter them in time and space. A message to lead myself here." "Rose, you've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now. You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're going to burn."

"I want you safe. My Doctor. Protected from the false god." "You cannot hurt me. I am immortal." The Dalek Emperor tells her "You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space. Every single atom of your existence and I divide them." A Dalek disintegrates gently. "Everything must come to dust. All things. Everything dies. The Time War ends." The Daleks crumble.

***  
"I will not die. I cannot die!" The Emperor exclaims. The spaceship disappears in a golden wave.

***  
"Rose, you've done it. Now stop. Just let go." The Doctor tells her. She looks at him "How can I let go of this? I bring life." Jack breaths again. "But this is wrong! You can't control life and death." "But I can. The sun and the moon, the day and night. But why do they hurt?" "The power's going to kill you and it's my fault."

"I can see everything. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be." Nova speaks for the first time since they got back "Ro, let it go we did It, we saved him" The Doctor looks at Rose "That's what I see. All the time. And doesn't it drive you mad?"

"My head." "Come here." The Doctor tells her. "It's killing me" "I think you need a Doctor." Nova rolls her eyes at what he said before smirking. The Doctor kisses Rose. The golden energy transfers from her eyes to his, then she faints in his arms. The Doctor exhales the energy back into the Tardis and its doors close.

Jack picks up a handful of Dalek dust from the floor, then runs when he hears the Tardis engines. He's too late. It dematerializes, leaving him stranded.  
***  
Rose wakes up "What happened?" "Don't you remember?" "It's like there was this singing." "That's right. I sang a song and the Daleks ran away." Nova snorts "yeah you wish dad" "I was at home. No, I wasn't, I was in the Tardis, and there was this light. I can't remember anything else"

The Doctor's skin is darkening. Nova smiles knowing what this means.

The Doctor looks at Rose "Rose Tyler. I was going to take you to so many places. Barcelona. Not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona. You'd love it. Fantastic place. They've got dogs with no noses. Imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke, and it's still funny." He nods at his daughter who is just chilling leaning against one of the coral structures.

Rose looks confused "Then, why can't we go?" "Maybe you will, and maybe I will. But not like this." "You're not making sense," Rose tells him even more confused as to what is going on.

"I might never make sense again. I might have two heads or no head. Imagine me with no head. And don't say that's an improvement. But it's a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you're going to end up with" Nova snickers at her dad making regeneration jokes.

The Doctor double over in pain.

"Doctor!" Rose tries to run to him, but Nova hold her back as he says, "Stay away!" "Doctor tell me what's going on."

"I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex, and no one's meant to do that. Every cell in my body's dying." He tells her "Can't you do something?" "Yeah, I'm doing it now. Time Lords have this little trick, it's sort of a way of cheating death. Except it means I'm going to change, and I'm not going to see you again. Not like this. Not with this daft old face. And before I go"

Nova is still holding her back Rose shakes her head "Don't say that." "Rose, before I go, I just want to tell you, you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic you too Nova. And do you know what? So was I."

Golden light burst out of the Doctor's body. This is not a nice quiet regeneration of the usual kind. Everything changes very suddenly, and the tenth Doctor is standing there. Everyone say Hi! to David Tennant using a South London accent instead of his natural Scottish burr.

"Hello. Okay. Ooo, new teeth. That's weird. So, where was I? Oh, that's right. Barcelona. Nova laughs "yeah the teeth are always weird" before hugging the most recent version of her father. Then she lightly slaps him on the head "that was for sending me away"

He looks at his daughter "okay I deserved that" Nova nods "damn straight" Rose is standing there looking very confused Nova snorts "I think we broke Rose because someone didn't tell her about this process before it happened" he shrugs "you could've told her" "true but it didn't cross my mind" ****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is 'The Parting of the Ways' and the end of Book One. Hope you guys enjoyed this book and fear not we will be back with book 2 soon. following Nova, Rose, and 10 on their adventures. 


End file.
